2005:716 - TRALEE: 3 Bridge Place, Kerry

Test excavations as an integral part of an impact assessment were undertaken at 3 Bridge Place in Tralee. Two test cuttings, Trenches 1 and 2, were initially opened. Trench 1 (4m by 1.42m) was situated within the front ground-floor room of the existing dwelling at Bridge Place and Trench 2 was opened bisecting the rear yard/garden area. Subsequent to initial positive archaeological results in Trench 2, it was agreed, given the small-scale nature of the property, to extend the cutting to encompass all the rear open area.

Excavated to a depth of 0.68m, the stratigraphy of Trench 1 comprised three layers: a concrete floor, a rubble fill and a silty clay layer. A stone setting was recorded in the extreme south-west corner of the trench within this silty clay layer. It consisted of two cut limestone masonry fragments that extended under the baulk. Cleaning revealed that the larger of the two consisted of a dressed and moulded piece of medieval masonry. Both stones had been deliberately placed here in the last decade of the 19th century to revet the front pier of the existing building between the front door and front window. The larger of the two pieces, 0.9m by 0.23, was removed, as it was fractured throughout from pressure through time. The smaller of the two had a smooth surface but no moulding or decoration. It was left in situ for safety reasons, as it extended under the extreme corner of the cutting. At the opposite north-western corner and within the basal layer was a deliberately placed setting of sandstones. This rubble stone setting extended under the baulk and was not excavated. No further excavation was undertaken in Trench 1, as no proposed development works are scheduled to penetrate below 0.5m.

Trench 2 originally measured 8.2m by 1.5m, but, given the extent and nature of the archaeological deposits immediately evident, it was decided, following consultation with the DoEHLG, to reveal the entire extent of the archaeology across the full width (average of 5.5m) of the rear back garden area. The eastern limits of the site revealed significant archaeological features and deposits at depths varying from 0.35 to 0.5m. A substantial wall was revealed, 1.2m in thickness, and extended in a north–south direction across the full width of the site. The wall continued under the northern baulk, whereas its southern limits (exposed at a distance of 0.25–0.3m from the southern baulk) comprised a ragged break consistent with negative interference in the recent past. The outer face of the wall is constructed with well-matched limestone rubble, roughly coursed, and is set in a gritty lime mortar, while the core is composed of smaller stones packed and bedded in mortar. It has a distinct basal batter on its outer or western face, while its inner east face retains coherent sections of its original lime-based render made up of several thick coats. A return wall section extending eastwards was partially revealed, but it quickly trailed off. Human skeletal remains, both in situ burials and ex situ disarticulated human bones, were present throughout the entire site.

An irregular mass of loose masonry and mortar was removed to partially reveal the back edge or west face of the major east–west wall and to fully reveal a reused plain gargoyle or waterspout. This shallow waterspout had been relaid in the more recent past, possibly in the 18th century, and the mortar adhering to it was of a different, more pinkish, colour with a harder, stronger bind to it.

A second section of masonry was exposed running at right angles to and abutting the east–west wall. This section of masonry comprised four dressed and chamfered ashlar blocks that had been laid on and slightly extended over a flat masonry course that was only partially revealed. How this chamfered course of masonry, possibly a basal plinth or the remains of a buttress, related to the east–west wall could not be determined. Its northern edge was not revealed due to the presence of incoherent but substantial stones and mortar that generally conform to a more recent event, possibly a levelling layer relating to the construction of buildings on the site in the late 18th century.

A minimum of fifteen burials were recorded through cleaning alone, and all of the loose disarticulated human bone, and to a much lesser extent animal bone and shell, was retrieved. The greatest density of skeletal remains was located in the eastern half of the site, although two burials (including B6 and B7) were recorded in the western area. Burial 6 comprised a small slate box setting with the skull of an infant exposed. The skull of B7 was also exposed within a similar, but larger, construction and only partially revealed. These burials consisted in the main of small box graves constructed preferentially with discarded broken medieval roof slates, often perforated. A further grave cut or box setting of stones abutted the inner east face of the wall, to which Burials 3 and 9–12 were in close proximity. Burials 1 and 2 were clearly interred on the remains of the return wall. The orientation of B1 is suggestive of an accommodation burial in a difficult stony environment, as its north-west/south-east orientation indicates. The remaining burials B8, B4–5 and B16 were also located in the eastern half of the site but are not associated with any feature or cut.

Three burials (B13–15), as well as several dispersed small human bones and teeth, were located between 19th-century flagstones and the major east–west wall. Two of the burials (B14 and B15) had been truncated by the laying of the flagstones. Burial 14, a young individual, possibly an adolescent, only survived from the upper femora area to the foot bones, while B15, a young child of around ten years of age, survived from the skull to the mid-femora area. Only the pelvis articulating with the right femur survived of the third skeleton, B13. The recovered disarticulated human remains are currently being examined by an osteoarchaeologist.

Sherds of North Devon gravel-free, gravel-tempered and sgraffito ware from the 17th century were also found, along with a sherd of 16th-century Saintonge ware. A single copper coin of unknown date was recovered and will require conservation. A very fine decorated foliated masonry fragment was noted in the basal course of an adjoining boundary shed wall immediately beside the eastern limits of the site. A similar fragment, possibly from the same piece, was recently recorded by the writer in the grotto of the modern Dominican garden.

The excavation has uncovered the largest section ever exposed of the fabric and graveyard of the medieval foundation of the Dominican Abbey of the Holy Cross. Spatially, it also reflects the westernmost limits recorded. None of the walls or associated features was fully excavated and all of the burials were left in situ. It is not clear exactly what specific element of the original medieval Dominican Abbey range of buildings was exposed, although a number of points are worthy of note. It is clear that the 1.2m-wide wall comprises part of the western limits of a high-status building. This is evident by the basal batter, thickness and the interior render. It is possible that the structural remains may be the nave area of the abbey church itself, especially given the density of the uppermost burials recorded within and around the walls. Certainly some of the burials were interred subsequent to the demise of the abbey, as two skeletons (B1 and B2) were recorded partly on the reduced remains of one section of walling. Furthermore, the recovery of a 16th-century sherd of Saintonge ware also testifies to the late nature of the upper archaeological levels.

The revealed archaeology was recorded in situ, preserved and protected following an agreed strategy with the DoEHLG in co-operation with the site’s developers. Post-excavation analysis from Bridge Place is ongoing.

3 Lios na Lohart, Ballyvelly, Tralee, Co. Kerry