2011:555 - COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BORRISOKANE, Tipperary

Pre-development testing at Borrisokane Community College was undertaken to ascertain whether construction works associated with a school extension will affect subsurface archaeological features, particularly the possible foundation levels of former workhouse buildings located on the site. Testing was concentrated in the central area of the former workhouse complex, where three trenches were excavated. Foundations and the lower levels of the walls of the workhouse were uncovered in each of the trenches excavated. Trenches A and B were excavated along the line of the former accommodation unit, which ran east–west through the site. Trench C was excavated in the area of a former north–south-running building which housed the dining hall and kitchens of the 19th-century workhouse. While a number of modern services are located in this area, the western wall of the former workhouse was located and survives below the surface.
The testing at Borrisokane found that the proposed school extension would have a direct impact on the subsurface remains of the former workhouse. Following consultation with the National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, it was recommended that all works on site be monitored. The construction programme is dictated by the academic year to facilitate continuation of classes. In 2011 the monitoring of groundworks uncovered the foundations of the accommodation unit of the former workhouse. The walls of this narrow rectangular building were recorded prior to construction of the school extension. In 2012 further excavation works associated with the school building programme will be monitored.

Arch Consultancy Ltd, New Line, Athenry, Co. Galway.