2008:739 - Urlingford, Kilkenny

Thirteen test-trenches were excavated in a greenfield site located in the townland of Urlingford to the west of Main Street in Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny. The site is located close to the reputed site of the battle between the Irish and the Danes in the 10th century after which the town of Urlingford is named. Topsoil depths varied between 0.1m and 0.25m in Field 1 where the topsoil overlay a grey/yellow boulder clay subsoil. The topsoils in Field 2 averaged 0.2–0.25m and overlay an orange/brown boulder clay subsoil. Topsoil in the area of the garden plots adjacent to Mill Street was up to 0.4m thick and overlay an orange/brown boulder clay subsoil. A spread of heat-shattered stones (4.6m by 7.6m), typical of a fulacht fiadh, was exposed in Trench 7 in Field 2 close to the banks of the River Gowl, which flowed along the western site boundary. A metal detector was used on the spoil from the test-trenches and nothing of archaeological significance was noted.