2002:1738 - LORRHA, Tipperary

Excavations took place at this site from 18 February to 17 April 2002 before a housing development. The site was to the north-west of St Ruadhan’s Abbey and partially impinged on the outer sanctum ditch of the abbey. A trench was excavated by hand across the expected alignment of this ditch. The position and extent of the ditch were confirmed. The ditch was c. 7m wide, and finds in the upper fills suggested that it was being backfilled as late as the 18th century. No trace of an inner bank was discovered, and the upper fill of the ditch was a loose brown loam that would not have formed part of the bank if it had been pushed back into the ditch as part of a ground-levelling process.

In the area stripped to the north of and outside the sanctum ditch, three cereal-drying kilns and a ditch that appeared to be of medieval date were identified. A radiocarbon sample from one of the kilns provided a date range of AD 545–660, which would make it contemporary with the Early Christian monastery. Analysis of the grains from the kilns showed a mixture of oat, barley and, to a lesser extent, wheat, with frequent weed seeds.

To the west of the site a circular feature had been excavated into the limestone bedrock. The pit was c. 1m deep and c. 2m in diameter, with some evidence of stepping along the northern edge. The feature has been interpreted as a well. No finds or samples adequate for radiocarbon dating were obtained from the primary fills of this feature. After the well had gone out of use, a pit had been excavated into the upper fills. The fill of this pit provided material suitable for radiocarbon dating. The date range was AD 1255–1453, so the well had gone out of use sometime before this and must have been excavated even earlier, possibly as early as the time of the foundation of the monastery.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth