County: Wicklow Site name: FASSAROE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0084
Author: Redmond Tobin, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: CROSS
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 723603m, N 717888m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.197058, -6.150092
Testing was carried out on the site of a proposed warehouse and ancillary offices in the townland of Fassaroe, Co. Wicklow. The area is adjacent to the monument of St Valery’s Cross (SMR 7:26 (02)), and testing was required to ensure that the development did not encroach on or affect any buried archaeological features associated with the cross. A buffer zone around the cross was required, and testing would define the minimum diameter of such a buffer.
Testing took place on 6 February 2002. Six trenches were excavated, three to the east and three to the west of Fassaroe Lane. All trenches started at 12–15m from the base of the cross and extended radially from it. This testing revealed no evidence of any archaeological features associated with St Valery’s Cross. Therefore, it seems that two interpretations are possible in respect of the cross. Firstly, the cross has been moved from its original location, as suggested by Anne Plumptre in the early 19th century.
This view is not contradicted by the test results. The other possibility is that it is a tearmann cross. If this is the case, it marks the boundary of consecrated lands and may be peripheral to any physical ecclesiastical remains.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
