County: Wexford Site name: BALLYHACK
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WX044-009001- Licence number: 03E1630
Author: Martin Reid, National Monuments Service
Site type: Castle - tower house
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 670536m, N 610964m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.245876, -6.967078
Planning permission was granted for the change of use of an existing stone shed, located beside Ballyhack tower-house, to guides' accommodation. To facilitate this development, a foul sewerage trench, manholes and a trench for ESB connections were required. These works were monitored over a three-day period on 6–8 October 2003.
Features identified included the foundations of a demolished cottage and a network of drainage culverts that served this structure. All of these features were dated to the 17th–18th century, as borne out by finds of Staffordshire slipware, clay-pipe stems and glass. Some of the finds were more recent and may date to a period closer to the demolition of the cottage in the 1970s. One of the photographs on display in the tower-house shows the cottage prior to demolition, and the faint shadow of the roof profile is still to be seen up against the wall of the castle. No earlier features associated with the medieval period were identified.
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dún Scéine, Harcourt Lane, Dublin
