2007:1650 - Monearmore/Rathduff, Cullen, Tipperary

Testing was carried out in advance of the construction of a housing development in the townlands of Monearmore and Rathduff in Cullen village. The proposed development is within the zone of archaeological potential for four sites, including the site of Cullen Castle, a church and graveyard, and two holy wells. Twelve test-trenches were excavated over the area, with two trenches focused on the east–west-orientated townland boundary through the centre of the site.
The townland boundary which bisected the site measured c. 1.5m in width and was 1.5m above the surrounding ground level. A drystone rubble stone wall was present on the north side of the earthen bank of the boundary. There was no obvious ditch on either side of the bank of the boundary. A small narrow linear trench orientated west–east was uncovered under the removed section of the bank of the townland boundary. This trench had been cut through a remnant topsoil and into the natural subsoil beneath. It contained two fills and unburnt animal bones were recovered from both, while a single fragment of cremated animal bone was also recovered from the upper fill of the trench. The maximum length exposed was 1.78m. The width of the trench at the top was 0.46–0.48m, and the base of the trench was 0.2–0.23m. The maximum depth of the combined fills was 0.24m, but the depth of the feature from the top of the adjacent subsoil was 0.36m.
Two rectangular pits containing deposits of heat-shattered stones were identified in the same trench. The northern pit measured 2m west–east by 1.4m. A small offshoot was present at the western end of the northern edge of the rectangle and measured 0.8m north–south by 0.6m. The southern pit was very similar. It measured 2.6m north-west/south-east by 1.2m, and also had an offshoot which measured 0.5m west–east by 0.5m. These pits are likely to be archaeological in nature.
A linear ditch, orientated north-west/south-east, was identified in two of the trenches. It measured 1.7m in width and may represent an earlier subdivision of the field. Indeed, the possible ditch is aligned with the northern stream crossing.
The three stream crossings were also examined. All comprised primarily a concrete pipe and/or metal pipe, 0.5m in diameter, surrounded by stone packing. Mortar was used in at least the northern and the southern crossings. A single stone slab was identified on the surface of all three crossings. It is possible, given the two wells and the church and graveyard, that there were simple crossings using stone slabs at these locations in the past. However, both the northern and southern crossings were substantially altered with the insertion of the pipes, and the present widths of the crossings indicate that they may have been widened for modern agricultural vehicular access.