2011:579 - THURLES, Tipperary

Engineering site investigations openings were monitoring within Thurles town. The works required Ministerial Consent owing to their proximity to the town wall at two locations and the projected location of the East Gate.

Several areas within and in the environs of the town centre were investigated and many of these were within the archaeological zone for the town. Two streets, Slievenamon Road and O’Donovan Rossa Street, were of special interest owing to the possibility that the town wall and/or town ditch crossed both carriageways. No trace of the town wall or town ditch was found at either location. Also of special interest was the eastern end of Liberty Square, where the East Gate would have been sited and where the mid-15th-century Bridge Castle still survives. There is no trace of the East Gate, which was located at the western side of the bridge over the River Suir. This gate was attached to the tower-house (Bridge Castle), but all that remains is the spring of an arch on the north face of the tower-house.

Areas where archaeological remains, or areas of potential archaeological interest, were uncovered were along Mathew Avenue, Castle Avenue, Mary’s Avenue, Liberty Square and Slievenamon Road.

Along both Mathew Avenue and Castle Avenue the remains of extensive cobbled surfaces were revealed. Both avenues are outside the medieval walled town, with only the southern half of Mathew Avenue within the archaeological zone.

The remains of cobbled surfaces were found along Mary’s Avenue, both on the footpath and towards the northern end of the carriageway, i.e. the area nearest to the church. In one opening, located on the footpath, a cobbled surface was exposed at a depth of 0.55m, while a second surface was revealed at the base of another test trench, 0.7m below ground level. A sherd of 19th-century pottery was found on top of the higher cobbled surface. In another opening a cobbled surface was revealed 0.26m below ground level, although it had been damaged by services. In a test trench located at the north-eastern end of the Avenue, nearest to St Mary’s Church, a cobbled surface was revealed 0.3m below ground level. This surface had also been damaged by services.

A short section of cobbling was exposed in an opening at the junction of Liberty Square and Emmet Street, located at the western side of the bridge over the River Suir and at the eastern side of Bridge Castle. The rounded limestone cobbled surface occurred in the western side of the trench at 0.55m below ground level and 0.95m east of the castle wall. An orange-brown, very sandy silt sealed surface, which had been cut through by a service line.

At the eastern end of Liberty Square, outside the northern wall of Bridge Castle, a surface was exposed extending in all directions within a test trench, at a depth of 0.59m below ground level. It appeared to comprise a thin layer of concretion covering rounded limestone cobbles. The cobbles were not disturbed and excavations ceased at the 0.6m level. This surface was located 1.53m from the Bridge Castle wall at its western end and 1.65m from the castle wall at its eastern end.

Within another opening at the eastern end of Liberty Square, and outside the northern wall of Bridge Castle, masonry was uncovered 0.66m below ground level. Located 2.04m north of the northern wall of Bridge Castle, it was aligned north–south and would have crossed the road. The area was highly disturbed on its southern side owing to service lines.

In Slievenamon Road, an opening was deliberately positioned along the area of the projected line of the town wall, which is considered to be sited at the boundary of the Band Hall building and the Tipperary Lighting shop, but no trace of the town wall was revealed at this location. This opening was aligned north–south in order to establish whether the wall extended east–west across the street. In the southern part of the opening, truncating an orange-brown silty clay with red brick inclusions, there was a cut-like feature. Aligned east–west, it was filled with a dark greyish-brown silty clay. It extended to a light brown silty clay at the base of the opening. This cut was of relatively modern origin and, although within the area of a possible town ditch, the fact that it cut a relatively modern deposition discounts its being a medieval ditch.

Along O’Donovan Rossa Street, a north–south-aligned street on the north side of the town and where the town wall is projected to cross, a test trench was sited to determine the existence of the wall. There was no trace of the town wall at this location.