County: Clare Site name: PARNELL STREET, ENNIS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 33:82 Licence number: 05E0124
Author: Martin Jones, 6 Newgarden, Belclare, Tuam, Co. Galway.
Site type: Modern
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 533582m, N 677439m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.843793, -8.985915
Topsoil-stripping was monitored at the proposed location of a small, single-storey storage building and ancillary site works at Parnell Street, Ennis, on 5 March 2005. The proposed building measures 10m (east–west) by 6–7.4m. The site falls within the constraint area of the historic town of Ennis.
Three test-trenches were opened by mechanical excavator in an open area to the rear of Lucas’s public house. A subrectangular modern cut feature was noted within Trenches 1 and 2. This measured 4.8m (east–west) by 4m and a maximum 0.22m in depth. Near-vertical sides led to a very flat and regular base, suggesting that the feature may have been machine-dug. The cut was filled by red/brown silty clay, which contained a piece of heavy green bottle glass and a sherd of modern pottery. A modern shed had previously stood in that area but had been ‘long demolished’ (Phillip Lucas, pers. comm.). No further archaeological features or finds were recorded during groundworks.
The full extent of the subrectangular cut (both horizontally and vertically) was established and secure dating evidence was obtained to place the feature within a modern context. The feature is enclosed by the foundation cut of the proposed structure and there will be no further impact during construction.
