2001:1208 - CLONMEL: Disney’s Yard, Gladstone Street Upper, Tipperary

The erection of a two-storey building was planned for this site. Clonmel Corporation imposed initial conditions on the development that necessitated a standing building survey and archaeological testing. A number of historical documents suggested that the North Gate of the town wall was once located on this site. There was no definitive evidence for this theory.

Four test-trenches were dug, three at the base of existing walls and the fourth extending towards the centre of the site.

Two of the walls investigated (Walls 1 and 2) consisted of two phases of construction. The earliest phase was most likely representative of 17th-century activity, which was contemporary with the pit features. A sealed doorway was located within the lower courses of Wall 1.

A number of pit features were uncovered. They were irregular in morphology and their surface layers varied between grey and black silty clays. Frequent amounts of bone, charred bone and post-medieval pottery were uncovered on the surface of these features. The pits were not excavated. A small number of sgraffito ware and other medieval pottery sherds were uncovered in a substantial layer of garden soil.

Mitigation measures were proposed, suggesting that levels of archaeology be recognised and that no construction works directly affect archaeological remains.