County: Waterford Site name: Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WA040–011 Licence number: 05E1390 ext.
Author: John Tierney, Eachtra Archaeological Projects, Ballycurreen Industrial Estate, Kinsale Road, Cork.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 619029m, N 577693m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.951010, -7.723174
Subsequent to the demolition of the Cliff House Hotel, stripping of topsoil was monitored prior to the construction of a new hotel. The development is situated west of, and outside, the zone of archaeological potential for Dysert church. A smaller inlet/guileen known as the Ummar demarcates the west end of the development site. As the site is positioned on a steep slope, it is graded into three terraces.
The topsoil was a dark-brown silty clay and was up to 2m deep at the north end of the site. On the lower terrace at the north-west end of the site, one of the garden walls, supporting the middle terrace, was partially demolished under supervision. The wall was comprised of medium-sized flat sub-angular stones. No dressed stone or architectural fragments were observed during demolition.
Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered during topsoil-stripping or during wall demolition. However, all site works in the vicinity of the freshwater source known as the Ummar remain to be monitored.
