County: Longford Site name: TEMPLEMICHAEL GLEBE/LISNAMUCK, LONGFORD
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 13:17 Licence number: 04E1522
Author: Emer Dennehy, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Walled garden
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 614703m, N 776358m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.736666, -7.777135
Testing was undertaken at the site to assess the impact of a proposed access road on a potential archaeological site, a 'castle site', in the townland of Templemichael Glebe. A geophysical survey of the site identified the subsurface remains of a walled garden but no definitive evidence to confirm the location of the castle proper. The walled garden appeared to be composed of a substantial enclosing wall and was internally divided into six cells by walls or paths. Eleven trenches were opened, with six located in the vicinity of the 'walled garden' and the remainder along the proposed road corridor. In the eastern end of Trench 1 a single course of mortared red bricks was identified. This possibly represents evidence for an internal garden cell wall. A number of linear features were identified, including a large drainage ditch within Trench 6 that had been interpreted in the geophysical report as a garden wall. In Trench 7 a mortar layer 0.1m in width was uncovered containing red brick and fragments of slate. A curvilinear ditch was located in Trench 9.
The remainder of the stratigraphy consisted primarily of garden soil and gravel deposits. Although natural pockets of gravel occurred across the site, some of the deposits appear to be the remains of garden paths. No archaeological stratigraphy or artefacts were identified. No evidence of the castle site was found.
