2012:550 - COOLMORE, Tipperary

Planning permission was granted for a development at Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Co. Tipperary to include the demolition of existing stables and ancillary sheds and offices, the construction of a new courtyard development and all associated site works including construction of new effluent treatment system and percolation area to serve the proposed development. The development is within the curtilage of Coolmore House, which is a Protected Structure. One Recorded Monument lay in the vicinity of Coolmore House, a ringfort/rath 100m to the south-east (TS062-083).

Monitoring of all topsoil stripping and ground disturbance associated with the development was made a condition of planning. All the demolition works and excavation of foundation trenches was monitored.

In general all of the yard buildings at Coolmore Stud were built of locally quarried rubble stone bonded with a hard cream to white lime-mortar. There were no appreciable variations in the stone or mortar and the walls were of a uniform thickness indicating that all of the buildings were of similar construction, probably early 19th-century date. The significant variations from this all related to modern block work construction using cement mortar.

The foundation trenches for the new buildings were dug to a general depth of c. 0.5m and a width of c. 2m. No finds or features of archaeological significance were apparent in the course of any of the topsoil removal or in the foundation trench.