2004:1592 - CLONMEL: 73 O'Connell Street/Hopkin's Lane, St Mary's, Tipperary

Planning permission was granted to redevelop a site at the rear of 73 O'Connell Street. An extension was proposed for a disused site adjoining Hopkin's Lane. The site lies within the zone of archaeological potential.

A test-trench 1.3–1.5m wide was excavated for a length of 8m from south to north within the area of the proposed extension. A layer of rubble fill of late 19th-/early 20th-century date covers the site to a depth of 1.5–1.6m. Over the northern 5m of the trench the rubble overlies a sterile buried soil horizon, which in turn overlies boulder clay. These layers appear to have no archaeological significance.

On the southern 3m of the trench, stratified layers occur at a depth of 1.5–1.85m: yellow clay, black organic material and buried subsoil. Of these, only the layer of black organic material is of any potential archaeological significance. The organic layer appears to represent a deposit of refuse that accumulated over a layer of soil. The soil (grey silty clay) is probably the natural soil that was covered by a cultural layer. In the absence of finds, it was not possible to know the date of the organic deposition, but it is likely to have occurred in late medieval or post-medieval times (c. 14th–17th century). The layer appeared to represent dumping in waste ground, possibly back gardens, as it is not compacted and did not contain any apparent elements of structures likely to be associated with a house.

6 Clarence Court, St Luke's, Cork