2006:1292 - Sir Harry’s Mall, King’s Island, Limerick, Limerick

The excavation of the trial pits was part of an ongoing campaign of archaeological investigations carried out on this site (see No. 1291 above). Due to the nature and extent of the archaeology on the site and the level of disturbance created by the construction of the northern relief road since 1996, four campaigns of testing and excavation have been carried out on the site. As well as this, all groundwork on the site has been monitored (see No. 1293 below, 05E1300). The results of these excavations are discussed in greater detail below. As well as the excavations on the site, the bed of the Abbey River has been subject to archaeological investigations as part of the Limerick mains drainage scheme. The trial pits are being excavated to ensure that no archaeological structures in the riverbank and riverbed will be disturbed by the insertion of the piles.
Six trial pits were excavated in the bank of the Abbey River adjacent to Sir Harry’s Mall. The results were very similar for each of the trial pits, the only significant difference being the quantity of topsoil overlying the riverbed material at each location. In each of the trial pits, below the topsoil, if present, was a depth of up to 3m of demolition rubble. This rubble contained a mix of modern and 18th- and 19th-century ceramics. It also contained car parts, sections of shopping trolleys and an array of modern metal finds. The majority of the rubble was made up of masonry and red brick. Below the demolition rubble in the two pits where this depth was reached was sterile river mud.
No structures or deposits of archaeological importance were uncovered during the excavation of the trial pits along the bank of the Abbey River adjacent to Sir Harry’s Mall.

Editor’s note: Although this licence was issued during 2005, the report on the work was not received in time for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.