County: Limerick Site name: Maiden Street Lower, Newcastle West
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LI036–067 Licence number: 08E0127
Author: Linda G. Lynch, Aegis Archaeology Ltd, 32 Nicholas Street, Kings Island, Limerick.
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 528332m, N 633631m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.449445, -9.054319
An impact assessment (including test-trenching) was undertaken at this site in April 2008 in advance of the development of the site as a surgery. The site is adjacent to the historic town of Newcastle West. There are two extant cottages on the site, fronting onto Lower Maiden Street. The cottages have been amalgamated into a single dwelling. The testing was confined to the rear garden. A series of five trenches was opened, varying between 9m and 12.6m in length. Two walls and a cobblestone path were uncovered during the testing, and these appear to be modern in date. On the western side of the site a large hollow filled with modern rubbish was uncovered. It measured 2m in depth. This is likely to relate to an 18th-century quarry that was located to the west of the site. The hollow was filled with rubble possibly prior to the construction of the houses in the early 19th century.
