2001:719 - PORTARLINGTON: French Church Street, Laois

Test excavation was undertaken on the site of a proposed apartment block development at French Church Street, Portarlington, Co. Laois, on 21 March 2001. The development site is within the zone of archaeological potential in Portarlington as defined in the Urban Archaeology Survey of County Laois (OPW, 1986). It lies on the east bank of a bend in the River Barrow at the north-west end of the town. A 17th-century map of the town shows that the rampart defences traversed the proposed development site from south-west to north-east, and an angle bastion stood at the north-west end of the site.

Four 20m-long trenches were excavated on the footprint of the proposed development. The stratigraphy was similar in each of the trenches. Modern topsoil overlay a mixed landfill layer, which varied in thickness from 0.05m at the south-east end of the site to 1.4m at the north-west end. This fill was brought onto the site about 30 years ago in order to raise the ground level, which falls quite sharply towards the river on the north-west side of the site. The landfill overlay the original topsoil, moderately compact dark reddish-brown silty sand. It had an average thickness of 0.15m and overlay a thin layer of mixed sand and gravel with inclusions of brick, mortar, shell and pottery. This gravel deposit post-dates the destruction of the town defences.

It overlay a post-medieval layer, possibly levelled rampart material, consisting of mixed grey, light brown and red clayey sand containing gravel and small stones. There were occasional inclusions of bone, shell, brick and mortar, and finds included occasional post-medieval pottery sherds, glass fragments and clay pipe stem fragments. The post-medieval layer sealed and formed the fill of a 4–5m-wide flat-bottomed cut, which was discovered in Trenches 2, 3 and 4. It extends north-east/south-west across the site and runs parallel to the riverbank. This feature appears to be associated with the 17th-century town defences. The natural ground falls sharply towards the river beyond the north-west edge of this cut. The rampart probably stood on the higher ground immediately south-east of the cut, where a natural sand, gravel and stone deposit was encountered close to the existing site surface.

The test excavation indicates that the site contains a post-medieval cut and deposit, probably associated with the 17th-century town defences. It is possible that the cut relates to the rampart construction phase and the deposit may represent levelled rampart material. It would appear that the town fortifications were levelled at a relatively early period, probably in the 18th century.

31 Ashbrook, Oranmore, Co. Galway