2007:1998 - Main Street Upper, Arklow, Wicklow

Testing was undertaken on foot of a request for further information from Arklow Town Council. The planning authority requested an archaeological impact assessment to include test-trenches in all areas of the proposed development.
The site fell into two areas: Area 1 is urban, containing buildings fronting Main Street and the Parade Ground, and Area 2 is a greenfield site. The cinema area was particularly restricted due to the steps up to the buildings and the internal layout. It is not possible to say with certainty on the basis of one trench whether remnants of the castle or barracks are present beneath the cinema. There were no ancient remains in the excavated trench, therefore the indications are that any surviving remains are limited.
Five trenches were excavated in Area 1. The location of the trenches was restricted by the limitations imposed by standing buildings in this area; one trench was excavated within the Ormond Cinema while the others were excavated in the vacant ground between the buildings.
Sixteen trenches were excavated in Area 2, eleven on the southern slopes of the Avoca valley and five in ‘the fosse’ (in reality a natural steep-sided valley). Most of the trenches were excavated in multiple segments. All but one of the trenches within ‘the fosse’ were on the sloping sides at right angles to the V-shaped valley and one ran parallel to the ‘fosse’ close to the centre-line where the main drainage pipes for the upper part of Arklow town are located.
There were no archaeological finds or features over most of Area 2. Finds of 17th–20th-century date occurred in unstratified contexts on the southern slopes of the ‘fosse’ (i.e. below the castle walls and to the west of this).
The area in the south-west of the ‘fosse’ is made ground (long used as a dump known locally as ‘Anthony’s Alps’), therefore the backyards of Nos 32–34 Main Street consist of c. 3m of modern made ground. To the west of the ‘Hall’ (Area 1) late 17th-century to modern material occurred in a garden soil that overlay natural subsoil and similar material occurred to the south-east of the Hall. Modern material overlay subsoil throughout most of Area 1, while a cobblestone surface overlay subsoil in Trench 5. No datable material was associated with the cobblestones but the surface may be associated with the military barracks and thus of 17th-century or later date. There were no indications of archaeological features, remains or any finds from the site.