County: Tipperary Site name: CLONMEL: Irishtown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: TS083-019 Licence number: 04E0959
Author: Emma Devine, Mary Henry Archaeological Services Ltd.
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 619809m, N 622315m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.352069, -7.709226
Pre-construction testing was carried out on this site in two phases. Phase 1 consisted of opening two test-trenches (Trenches 1 and 2) in the backyard at the rear of the site. Trench 1 yielded medieval mid-13th–14th-century Redcliffe ware from a black silty organic layer located at a depth of 1.2m beneath post-medieval garden soil, ash and debris/rubble layers. Although the development site lay outside the medieval town walls, the material recovered paints a picture of people living outside the walls in a suburb along the banks of the river. The development proposal of raising the ground level ensured that the materials and features would be unaffected.
Phase 2 consisted of opening three additional trenches (Trenches 3–5) in the street-fronting part of the site after the demolition of the existing building. Trench 5 yielded materials and features of an archaeological nature. A small linear feature running north-south across the trench was investigated and local medieval pottery recovered from its silted fill. Another feature of unknown date was also investigated, but no further information was recovered. Trenches 3 and 4 contained 19th-century builders' rubble, probably a consequence of the construction of the building, since demolished. The ground level was to be raised here also, thus protecting the archaeological features.
17 Staunton Row, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
