County: Limerick Site name: BLACKABBEY, ADARE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 21:32 Licence number: 04E1581
Author: Mary Henry, Mary Henry Archaeological Services Ltd, 17 Staunton Row, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Site type: Post-medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 546761m, N 646546m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.567614, -8.785301
As part of an expansion project at St Nicholas National School, Adare, two new classrooms were built. The school is located in the grounds of the Augustinian abbey and accordingly it was decided to carry out some pre-construction testing on the site. Three test-trenches were opened. Testing revealed the build-up of ground which was a modern event and associated with the development and renovation of the nearby river path. The almost total absence of topsoil overlying the hardcore indicated very recent disturbance, and the underlying infill strongly suggests that this area has been deliberately raised.
Evidence for a post-medieval rubbish pit was found in one of the trenches. It contained animal bone and oyster shell. A culvert, with all of the characteristics of 19th-century construction, was uncovered in another test-trench. Nothing was uncovered that could be directly associated with the nearby abbey.
