2004:1590 - CLONMEL: Uncle Mike's Petshop, Mary Street CarPark (Rear of 75 O'Connell Street), Tipperary

Testing was carried out before the construction of a small extension to a building on this site. The proposed development site is located in the urban zone of potential archaeology in Clonmel, within the medieval walled town. It consists of a small enclosed rectangular gravel yard located at the rear of 75 O'Connell Street, but accessed from the Mary Street carpark at the north. Two trenches were opened, situated in order to test the location of foundations for the proposed structure. They were c. 1.5m wide, on average. Both trenches were excavated to a depth lower than foundation level for the proposed structure, to below natural sediments in Trench 1 (2.3m below ground level) and to the maximum depth possible in Trench 2 (2m below ground level).

Trench 1, situated to test the location of the southern wall of the proposed extension, contained no archaeological material, with layers consisting mainly of rubble and disturbed deposits and the remains of two early modern walls. Trench 2 tested the eastern wall of the extension. Modern and post-medieval deposits were removed to a depth of 0.58m below ground level, when a substantial north-southorientated stone wall was uncovered. Excavation continued beside the wall to a depth of 2m below the ground level. Eight courses were revealed, but the base of the wall was not reached. The courses consisted of roughly hewn large stone blocks, with average dimensions of between 0.4m by 0.21m and 0.34m by 0.1m, bonded with yellowish friable sandy mortar. No foundation trench for the wall construction was visible in the sediments that abutted it, which were post-medieval in date. The wall turned towards the south-east as it approached the centre of the trench and this is probably the same wall shown in this location on an 1874 map of Clonmel. Five other walls were uncovered within the trench, all of which were early modern in date, except for one, which had no datable evidence associated with it. This was east-west-orientated and abutted the other undated wall in the centre of the trench. Due to excavation constraints, only the uppermost part of the wall was revealed.

It was recommended that the two older walls be preserved in situ if possible.

Editor's note: Though carried out in 2002, this summary was received too late for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.

Ballycurreen Industrial Estate, Kinsale Road, Cork