County: Wicklow Site name: South Quay, Wicklow Harbour, Wicklow
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WW025–012 Licence number: 10E0192; 10R84/10R88
Author: Fintan Walsh, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120b Greenpark Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 732073m, N 694036m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.980786, -6.033200
Monitoring was carried out at South Quay, Wicklow Harbour, Co. Wicklow, between May and October 2010, in response to the replacement of a 250m length of quay wall. The excavation impacted on an 8m (north–south) x 250m area whereby the existing quayside and its rubble core was removed. In addition, the riverbed along the base of the existing quayside was excavated to accommodate a concrete foundation beam measuring 3.5m in width and 0.4m in depth.
Intermittent monitoring was carried out for the entire length of the replacement wall. A flat-bladed bucket was used during excavation of the submarine foundation, while a toothed bucket was used to remove the existing mass-concrete wall.
The monitoring brief included a metal-detection survey of the upcast riverbed material (10R84/10R88).
Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered during the monitoring. The south-eastern end of the quay had been improved in the mid-20th century with concrete blocks and lengths of concrete. An almost complete late 19th-century Price Bristol ceramic bottle was found in a test-pit on-site and several fragments of modern ceramic were noted in the debris.
The excavation of material extended to a depth of c. 3.5m. The soils comprised sandy silts with frequent irregular stones and gravel. A lower layer of dark-grey clay/marl was noted at the base of the excavation. At various points along the quay wall a number of wooden stakes were uncovered; however, these were aligned along the inner edge of the modern concrete wall and probably functioned as temporary revetments during the construction of this modern structure.
