2005:1643 - CREAGH DEMESNE/GOREY CORPORATION LANDS, Gorey, Wexford

Pre-development testing was undertaken at a site in Creagh Demesne/Gorey Corporation Lands, Gorey, Co. Wexford, in September and October 2005. The development envisages the construction of 100 houses across three adjacent sites (A–C). The development will include access roads and all associated services. The sites are located to the north-west of Gorey and are linked by the Gorey relief road, which is proposed to run along the townland boundary between Creagh Demesne to the north and Gorey Corporation Lands to the south. Site A is located to the south of this proposed road and Sites B and C are located to the north. Sites A and C are composed of rough grazing and Site B was planted with corn.

Tobermuire (SMR 7:32) is located just to the south of Site C. It is marked on the OS maps of the area but is not listed in the index accompanying the RMP maps and it is not listed in the Archaeological inventory of Co. Wexford. An urn burial was discovered in the exposed face of a disused gravel quarry in Gorey Corporation Lands. Rescue excavation by Raghnall Ó Floinn of the National Museum discovered a pit with a vase urn inverted over cremated bone located in close proximity to the original discovery (Excavations 1989, No. 99).

Two trenches excavated across Site A did not reveal anything of archaeological significance. Fifteen trenches were excavated across Site B and four across the northern field within the boundaries of Site C. None of the trenches revealed anything of archaeological significance. A number of field drains were noted.

Three trenches (5, 6 and 7) excavated across the southern field in Site C all revealed red-brick features across the eastern half of the field. The remains of a red-brick kiln/furnace/chimney, an apparent stockpile of large hand-made red bricks and a loose stone bank were revealed at the eastern end of Trench 7. A single course from a possible red-brick wall set into the a grey dauby silty natural were recorded in Trench 6 and a weathered red-brick surface overlying mixed black charcoal-rich silt was recorded at the eastern end of Trench 5. The marshy area at the centre of the field appears to have been used as a dump for household and building rubble. It is possible that buildings and features associated with the kiln/furnace/chimney were levelled and the remains were pushed across the marshy area towards the centre of the field. A black charcoal-rich silt noted in the three trenches may result from the processes associated with the kiln/furnace/chimney. None of these features are marked on any edition of the 6-inch OS map series for the area. The features appear to correspond to an industrial area associated with red-brick manufacturing and are located on the higher ground along the eastern boundary and the south-eastern corner of the field.

Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway