2007:1620 - 71 Main Street, Cashel, Tipperary

A specific requirement was made by Cashel Town Council (Planning Division) that licensed monitoring of an extension to the rear of No. 71 Main Street be conducted as part of the development. The extant building is probably 19th-century in date, and is adjacent to the entrance of a carpark off Main Street. Part of the original extent of this property had been bought by the Town Council in order to create the car-park and public facilities directly behind the extant building. The site was formerly part of the 28-acre gardens of the Archbishop’s residence (now the Cashel Palace Hotel), and landscaped gardens are recorded here from the early 18th century. The site was later part of a butter and cheese factory (early 20th century) and also the premises of a watchmaker.
Monitoring was conducted on 31 August 2007. The work revealed that substantial ground reduction had previously taken place on this site, and nowhere was natural subsoil encountered. However, a localised deposit of post-medieval charred and burnt cobbles (yard surface) was identified directly below a modern concrete slab and overlying a gritty clay garden soil deposit at the western corner of the development, directly behind the extant building. No finds or datable artefacts were recovered from either deposit. A post-medieval wall foundation representing the original walled yard at the rear of the building was also identified; this is preserved in situ. The remaining substrate comprised modern builders’ rubble and imported sand and grit.