County: Longford Site name: Carrickglas Demesne
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: 05E0003
Author: Maurice F. Hurley, 6 Clarence Court, St Luke’s, Cork.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 616617m, N 777507m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.746931, -7.748070
Testing was carried out at Carrickglas Demesne in advance of its redevelopment to include a golf-course, clubhouse and tourist accommodation.
It was proposed to construct a new hotel wing in the low-lying ground to the west of the manor house. This low-lying area was referred to as a sunken garden in some of the documentation, but on examination it appears more likely to have been a natural valley or declivity in the centre of which a stream (or drain) flowed to the north. Three test-trenches were excavated, each in two segments. The trenches indicated that the so-called ‘sunken garden’ is a natural feature in the topography. The ground in the area appeared to have been artificially raised by the introduction of up to 1m of clay, which appeared to relate to the landscaping of the grounds in the 18th or 19th century. The introduction of this soil was preceded by a complex drainage system. Close to the modern surface several areas of compact stone formed hardcore surfaces, some of which were defined by kerbing of boulders, which appear to relate to the garden paths recorded in various 19th- and early 20th-century editions of the OS maps.
The only finds were the base of a wine bottle dating to the mid-19th century, a horse tooth and the burial of a dog of modern date. There were no finds or features that could be directly related to any earlier settlement on the site.
