2011:599 - MAYPARK NURSING HOME, MAYPARK LANE, BALLYNAKILL, WATERFORD, Waterford

As part of a request for further information, Waterford City Council required an assessment to include geophysical survey and testing for a proposed development of a retirement home. There was no Recorded Monument on or in the vicinity of the site. The site was laid out as parkland fields (i.e. dotted with trees), lawns and shrubberies. The land sloped towards the banks of the River Suir and was bisected by a driveway.
Target Geophysics were commissioned to undertake the geophysical survey, and a report was made available prior to testing.
Six test trenches were excavated to provide a comprehensive coverage of the site. One trench was specifically positioned to investigate two anomalies identified in the geophysical survey. These were located to the north of the drive. The two anomalies identified were clearly related to garden features, where two hollows apparent on the surface relate to the removal of trees or shrubs in recent years.
No deposits or features of archaeological significance were uncovered in the course of the testing.
Nine sherds of broken ceramics were recovered: two sherds of 19th-century ware decorated with a floral motif in green, pink and blue (cornflower pattern), one sherd from a plate with a blue border, one from a plate of transfer ware with a floral motif, three sherds from creamware plates and two from early–mid-20th-century white plates. The latter two were found in the dump of coal and ash deposited where a tree stump had been removed, i.e. one of the anomalies identified in the geophysical survey.

6 Clarence Court, St Luke’s, Cork