2008:639 - 30 The Mall, Tralee, Kerry

Pre-development testing was carried out at No. 30 The Mall, Tralee. A single test-trench was excavated in the rear yard measuring 8.5m long by 1.1m wide by a maximum 1.2m deep. The basal courses of two walls of a 19th-century building were recorded. No evidence of activity pre-dating the 19th century was revealed.
The stratigraphy of the trench comprised the concrete surface of the yard, which was 0.1m in depth, overlying a rubble overburden consisting of frequent inclusions of limestone rubble and mortar, and moderate inclusions of red-brick fragments and broken roof slates, with a maximum depth of 1.1m. The overburden in turn overlay the basal courses of two physically related stone-built walls (C.3 and C.4) set at a right angle to one and other, and a cultural layer C.5. C.5 comprised dark-blackish-brown silty clay, with occasional small stones, pebbles and oyster shells and moderate amounts of charcoal. C.5 is found at a minimum depth of 1.1m in the trench. The overburden material also overlies C.5.
The best-preserved and most fully exposed of the walls, C.4, was orientated east–west across the trench and is constructed of random rubble limestone set in a lime and sand mortar. It measures 0.6m in width and has a footing on each face measuring 0.2m each in width. C.4 survives at a maximum height of 0.8m.
Orientated north–south and extending for 0.2m from the eastern limit of the trench the wall C.3 was exposed. C.3 has been robbed out in the past and does not survive as well as C.4. Only the west face of the wall was uncovered as the east face lies outside the eastern limit of the trench. This wall is tied into the wall C.4 at its southern extent and is identical in construction method and materials. C.3 survives to an exposed maximum height of 0.55m where it meets the wall C.4, and length of 2.05m.