County: Limerick Site name: St Saviour’s, Island Road and Irish Town Park, Limerick
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LI005–017 C300; E3954; R130 Licence number: C300; E3954; R130
Author: Tracy Collins, ÆGIS Archaeology Limited, 32 Nicholas St, King’s Island, Limerick.
Site type: Medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 557798m, N 657979m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.671336, -8.623968
On foot of the Limerick City Walls Conservation and Management Plan (Collins et al. 2008), a report prepared for Limerick City Council and the Heritage Council, a list of conservation works was proposed. Since then, each year, conservation works have taken place. This entry details the third phase of those conservation works, the monitoring and general archaeological supervision of the conservation of a stretch of the medieval city wall in Limerick, at St Saviour’s, Island Road, Limerick, and a survey of the Irishtown Park stretch. Both stretches are within the zone of archaeological potential for LI005–017 (historic town).
The 2010 phase of works concerned the removal of vegetation from the St Saviour’s stretch in order to assess the condition of the wall and make plans for its conservation in 2011. Works were undertaken by a specialist building contractor, as the result of a competitive tendering process. The works were subsequently completed and signed off by Architectural Conservation Professionals (ACP) in late 2010.
The vegetation stripping was inspected on a regular basis. Record photos for archaeological purposes were taken. A measured drawing was produced by ACP. This drawing will form the basis for necessary conservation works proposed under a new conservation grant application in 2011. As such, no intrusive works were undertaken in 2010. The entire stretch of wall at St Saviour’s along its external stretch was revealed when the vegetation was removed. No ‘new’ unrecorded features were found along this stretch after visual inspection by the writer. As part of the 2010 works, the external face of the city walls at Irishtown Park was also surveyed by ACP in advance of its future conservation.
This work was commissioned by Limerick City Council and the Irish Town Wall Network (ITWN) of the Heritage Council and was funded by the Heritage Council. This conservation project and report feeds into the conservation policies LCW001–008 (section 4.1.1 inspection and maintenance, CMP, 181) and management plan actions (section 5.3, CMP, 187–190).
Reference
Collins, T., Darmody, N., O’Mahony, B., Lynch, L.G., Coyne, F. and Humphreys, D. with R. Minogue. 2008 Limerick city walls conservation and management plan. Unpublished report for Limerick City Council and the Heritage Council.
