2007:1422 - THE DIAMOND, CLONES, Monaghan

The site belongs to Clones Community Childcare, which proposes to erect an extension to the existing building. It is located within the area of constraint of MO011–010, early monastic remains. MO011–008 is also close to the site.
One test-trench was excavated. It was 8m long and 2m wide. It was located to the rear of the existing building, in a green space. There was a large tree immediately south of the trench, which impaired the visibility of the features observed. At the southern end of the trench there was a substantial L-shaped wall. The top of the wall was 0.55m below ground level. It projected out of the southern face of the trench and was c. 1m in width north–south; it was c. 4.5m long from east to west. It survived up to 0.75m high.
At 2.4m from the east end of the trench another wall, which was bonded with the first, ran northwards for 1m, which was the limit of excavation. It was not possible to continue the trench west of this wall due to the tree growing on the site. The wall was well constructed of stone, with mortar bonding. A sample of the mortar was retained.
No artefacts or datable material were associated with the wall.
North of the wall, in the north-east corner of the trench, the upper deposit, 1.4m deep, was composed of mortar, sand and occasional stone. Beneath this were successive layers, 0.18m deep, of charcoal, ash and brick. This material appeared to be domestic waste. It did not contain any artefacts. The lowest layer, 0.28m thick, was of brown clay, with moderately occurring charcoal pieces. The floor of the trench was similar, but the material was becoming lighter in colour, and the charcoal was less frequent. The maximum depth of the trench at the south end was 2.1m.
West of these walls, a section of the trench, 1.5m long, was not excavated due to the tree and its roots. West of this hiatus, there was a wall on the south side of the trench. It may have been a continuation of the wall further east. Along the west and north edges of the trench there were large stones, 0.25m higher than the south wall along the west side of the trench, and 0.1m higher than the wall on the north side of the trench. It was not possible to proceed with the excavation at the west end of the trench without removing these upper stones, so the excavation ended at 0.2m on the north side of the trench, and c. 0.4–0.5m on the south side, which was the top of the more substantial wall, which may be a continuation of that in the east end of the trench.
Modification of the foundation of the proposed building was recommended, in order to avoid the structure and associated features which came to light in the test-trench. Protection of the structures during construction, and monitoring were also recommended.