2008:074 - LEIGHLINBRIDGE: The Garrison, Carlow

Ministerial consent was granted to carry out a test excavation along the line of a recently demolished bawn wall associated with the town’s medieval defences (CW012–070–001). The purpose of the excavation was to identify and locate the foundations of the wall and to submit a proposal to the DOEHLG for its reinstatement. The remains of a substantial stone wall (width 0.78m, height 0.85m) aligned north–south were found in the three trenches excavated. The wall was built from roughly hewn limestone blocks and bonded with a lime-based mortar. The lower half of the wall was submerged beneath the water table and as a result much of the mortar had dissolved. A portion of an iron cooking pot was found at the base of the wall in Trench 1. Further investigative work will be carried out at the site in 2009.