County: Tipperary Site name: Various, Co. Tipperary
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 13E0208
Author: Declan Moore
Site type: Testing and monitoring
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 628493m, N 640700m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.516928, -7.580194
Monitoring was carried out at various locations in South Tipperary including Killenaule, Drangan, Fethard to Knockelly, Cloneen to Ballyhomuck, Mullinahone to Mullinolly and Ballycullin to Kilvemnon, (Linear Scheme). The work is part of the South Tipperary Water Conservation Scheme, Stage 3: Network Rehabilitation, Fethard RWSS-Contract No.3. The scheme involves the upgrading of water infrastructure and the installation of a new distribution main including both iron and polyethylene pipes ranging in diameter from 180-250mm. Typically the pipes were installed in open cuts averaging 0.45m wide by 1.1m deep. The monitoring was carried out between May and November 2013.
Testing in advance of pipe installation took place at the following locations under separate licences and are the subject of separate reports: Killenaule (Licence No; 13E0256), Kilvemnon (Licence No 13E0240) and Mullinahone (Licence No. 13E0212).
Monitoring of the installation of pipe work in an open cut trench took place along the roadway in Cloneen in October 2013. The trench measured 0.45m wide by 1.2m in depth. The nearest archaeological site was a church and graveyard (TS071-03001 and 002) located 40m from the roadway at Ballyhomuck townland. The stratigraphy exposed below the roadbase was a compact yellow brown natural boulder clay with frequent small stones and occasional boulders. No finds or features of archaeological significance were noted.
Monitoring of the installation of pipe work took place in Drangan in June 2013. The nearest archaeological site was a church and graveyard (TS063-16001-16003, Knockroe townland) located 30m from the roadway. The stratigraphy exposed below the roadbase was a compact yellow brown natural boulder clay with frequent small stones and occasional boulders. No finds or features of archaeological significance were noted.
Monitoring in the vicinity of a fulacht fiadh site at Mullinoly (TS063-061) exposed a mid-brown silty clay with frequent small stones along the road margin. The fulacht fiadh was discovered as a burnt spread (diam. 10m) during work on the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline in 1981-2 and lies in excess of 100m to the west of the scheme. No finds or features were exposed along this 50m section.
Testing and the subsequent monitoring of the installation of pipe work, in an open cut trench measuring 0.45m wide by 1.2m in depth, along River Street, Killenaule exposed a compact mid brown silty clay and bedrock underlying the road base. A number of modern service trenches were encountered including a culvert, however no finds or features of archaeological significance were noted. Testing at Killenaule is reported under licence 13E0256.
Monitoring of the installation of pipe work in an open cut trench took place along the roadway in Knockelly in May 2013. The trench measured 0.45m wide by 1.1m in depth. The nearest archaeological sites were an enclosure (TS062-130) and tower-house (TS062-131001). Both sites were in excess of 70m from the road. The stratigraphy exposed below the roadbase was a compact, grey brown sandy gravel with occasional boulders in the vicinity of the enclosure and bedrock in the vicinity of the castle. No finds or features of archaeological significance were noted.
Other than modern service trenches no finds or feature of archaeological interest were noted along the full length of the scheme.
Moore Group, Corporate House, Ballybrit Business Park, Galway.
