County: Sligo Site name: ANNFIELD
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 11E0456
Author: Brenda O’Meara
Site type: Post-medieval structures
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 604313m, N 662491m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.713205, -7.935428
Test assessment was carried out in Annfield townland, Bouladuff, Thurles, as part of a request for further information in respect of an application for planning permission.
The proposed development lies within the confines of TN040-010, classified as ‘house possible’ in the Register of Monuments and Places and consisting of the late 17th/early 18th-century remains of Annfield House. The house was constructed by the Mathew family of Thurles.
Test assessment was carried out adjacent to the ruinous remains of the house, which consisted of a rectangular structure measuring (internally) 18.2m long and 7.1m wide. The front (east-facing) façade and the entire upper storey were completely removed in the distant past. The remaining structure forms part of a cowhouse in use as part of a working farm. On the west side of the structure the gable walls extend beyond the west crossing wall, suggesting that the structure originally extended west or that a high bawn wall adjoined the building.
Investigation exposed a rubble limestone masonry wall footing with associated construction cut. Identified in Trench 1 and Trench 4, the heavily truncated remains formed a corner and possibly represent the remains of a projecting structure that formed part of the late 17th/early 18th-century house.
A survey carried out on a derelict house bordering the northern side of the development site indicated that the late 18th/early 19th-century structure was adapted and extended from a farm building to a dwelling house through the mid- to late 19th century and was heavily modified. A 19th-century ceramic tiled floor recorded at the northern end of Trench 1, and also recorded in Trenches 2 and 3, was associated with the development of this building.
The proposed new development should have no physical impact on the standing remains of Annfield house. Alterations to the design depth and location of the new structure have been suggested to mitigate the impact on the recorded subsurface features.
Brittas, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
