County: Clare Site name: The Cloister Bar, Abbeybridge, Ennis
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CL033–082 Licence number: C213; E3383
Author: Frank Coyne, Aegis Archaeology Ltd, 32 Nicholas St, King’s Island, Limerick.
Site type: Franciscan friary
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 533913m, N 677808m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.847148, -8.981073
Work was carried out at this site in September 2007. An area of gravel fill was removed in the area of the north range of the Franciscan friary. This revealed an area of stone cobbles, probably dating to the post-medieval period. These were recorded and removed. A mortared surface was encountered c. 0.55m below present ground level and this corresponds to a floor level previously identified in test-trenching, which was also recorded and removed. Under this was a layer of demolition, removal of which revealed a lower layer of cobbles, which appear to date from the medieval period and seem to be the original floor of the north range, although they do not survive across the entire area of the north range. Eight 1m2 trenches were then excavated in the vicinity of the cobbles to facilitate the drilling for piling. It was found that the limestone bedrock is very high in this area, lying an average of 0.5m below the cobbles.
This concluded the first phase of archaeological works on the site. Further excavation is scheduled for 2008.
