County: Longford Site name: ABBEYLARA
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 11:57 Licence number: 02E1557 EXT.
Author: Dominic Delany, Dominic Delany & Associates, Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 636337m, N 779660m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.765281, -7.448866
Monitoring of topsoil removal was carried out on a proposed residential development site at Abbeylara, Co. Longford, on 9 April 2005. The development site is located c. 50m north-west of the Cistercian abbey founded by Richard de Tuit in 1211 and colonised from St Mary’s in Dublin in 1214. The only surviving parts of the abbey are the crossing of 1214 and the tower inserted over it in the 15th century. No archaeological material was discovered during pre-development testing at the site in October 2002. However, monitoring of topsoil removal was recommended in view of the site’s proximity to the abbey.
Monitoring of topsoil removal took place under extension to the existing licence. Three linear features were uncovered during the course of this work. The features ran in a general east–west direction across the site. The fills resembled the topsoil in composition and contained inclusions of modern ceramics. All three remained uniform in width and orientation and were interpreted as being modern drainage features. No archaeological material was uncovered.
