County: Tipperary Site name: GEORGE'S LAND (Site 25(i))
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E0731
Author: Liam McKinstry, for Judith Carroll Network Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia, Structure and House - vernacular house
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 609460m, N 640901m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.519406, -7.860607
Excavation at Site 25i was carried out in Phase 3 investigations on behalf of South Tipperary County Council in advance of construction of the N8 Cashel Bypass and N74 Link Road. The scheme involves a 6km bypass route of the town and a 2km link road of the N74.
Phase 2 testing in testing Area 25 by Neil Fairburn (No. 1719, Excavations 2003, 03E0295) identified six separate areas of activity. Each of these areas, designated 25(i–vi), were excavated under separate licences. Testing work in the area of Site 25(i) had initially identified a possible structure built into the side of a bank, a fulacht fiadh and a possible vernacular building.
Site 25(i) was located between Chainages 8340 and 8480, at the bottom of a shallow valley in waterlogged and boggy ground. Much of the higher ground in the site appeared to have been only recently reclaimed for agricultural use.
The site consisted of a number of large areas of late post-medieval to modern features, as well as possible prehistoric features. The foundations of a late 18th- or 19th-century house were next to a post-medieval road which ran north-south. The road was bounded on its eastern side by a low bank, which was roughly stone-faced in places. Both the bank and road continued in a northerly direction, where they ran into a very large bank and ditch. This large bank had stonework built into its northern face, which was in places well faced and mortared and in others merely collapsed or dumped rubble. Certain parts of this wall appeared to be at least 17th century in date. It was clear that this site had gone through various alterations in physical make-up and usage. The post-medieval to modern parts are likely to be the result of the townland boundary passing through the site. The road and the banks either follow and respect the boundary or, in the case of the large bank and ditch, were part of the boundary.
Several small spreads and features of fulacht fiadh-type material were located in the north-western part of the site. The proximity of other fulachta fiadh and features to the north in Site 23 (No. 1750, Excavations 2003, 03E0508) may suggest that these features are contemporary
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