County: Laois Site name: PORTLAOISE: Presentation College
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E0596
Author: Neil O’Flanagan
Site type: Town
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 647032m, N 698245m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.032812, -7.298793
The rear garden of the Presentation College was extensively tested by machine from 28 to 29 April. The site lay between the banks of the River Triogue and the old convent building. The natural ground was made up of marls and gravels rising to less than 1m from the surface of the garden. Deposits forming the foundation of the back garden overlay the marl.
The findings of Trench 5 adjacent to the old convent suggested that much of the ground in the vicinity of the convent was transformed by the construction of the building. The recovery of what appears to be a stone drain/tunnel raises the possibility that an earlier tunnel may have survived the undertaking. In any case it was enveloped by large quantities of loose construction rubble of stone and red brick.
Trench 11 yielded a crude conglomeration of mortared stone which may have archaeological value, or which may represent debris associated with the construction of the chapel. It is suggested, therefore, that the base in Trench 11 and the structure in Trench 5 be further examined with a view to establishing their identity.
3 Manor Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7
