County: Kilkenny Site name: CALLAN: Fair Green Lane, Bolton
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 26:10 Licence number: 02E1778
Author: Jo Moran
Site type: Linear earthwork
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 641765m, N 643073m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.537401, -7.384361
The housing development at Fair Green Lane is located on the south-east side of Callan, immediately outside the line of the town defences. The site lies within the area of archaeological potential for Callan and was tested, ahead of development, by Catherine McLoughlin (Excavations 2001, No. 679, 01E0014), and monitored and tested further under the current licence before substantial excavations were undertaken in early 2003.
A four-week excavation was carried out between 14 January and 7 February in the area of the entrance. An area 30m by 6m on the west side and 30m by 7m on the east side of the existing entrance was opened.
No defensive banks or ditches were found on the line of the town defences on-site. The previously identified rampart was shown to be a recent upcast bank behind the present roadside wall. The three ditches found were roadside drains, associated with the remains of two metalled surfaces pre-dating the present road.
The roadside ditches could not be closely dated; the earliest contained some 17th/18th-century material. However, no road is shown on the Stuish estate map of 1681 or the earlier insert dated to 1655. Fair Green Lane (called Cuddhy’s Lane) is first recorded on the first-edition OS map c. 1840.
Knockrower Road, Stradbally, Co. Waterford
