County: Limerick Site name: Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 13E0432
Author: Tracy Collins
Site type: Post-medieval/industrial
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 557597m, N 656207m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.655394, -8.626725
Test trenching was carried out at a site locally known as the Limerick Clothing Factory (formerly Tait Clothing Factory). The aim of the testing was to uncover the well shown on the 1870 map, establish whether it has been capped or infilled and to investigate one of the passages under the main factory floor to determine the existence of any shaft support piers.
The well was found to the south of the engine room and was covered in concrete slabs and rubble. Once these were removed it was evident that the well had not been infilled. It was stone-lined and well-mortared. Stone slabs were used to finish the top of the well and cover possible shafts which extended from the well into factory. The base of the well was not determined as it was filled with water, which was found at a depth of 4.34m. The remains of four iron hinges on four sides of the surface of the well indicate that it was previously covered by a wooden door. Running lengthways across the centre of the well was an iron pipe which was used to pump water up to the overhead water tank.
A test trench in the central passage under the factory floor was investigated to determine the existence of any shaft supports piers. The trench measured 14m in length and the width, which was determined by the sides of the passage, measured 1.2m. A layer of rubble was removed at a depth of 0.4m which consisted of loose stones, bricks and slates. Underneath the rubble infill were the remains of a clay surface, a dark orange brown with frequent inclusions of charcoal indicating the surface had been burnt. The remains of the shaft supports were found in the base of the passage, comprising five rows of two cast iron supports; each row was c. 2.7m apart. The cast iron supports were set into the wall of the passage and measured 0.23m in length by 0.09m in height and protruded 0.08m from the wall. However, these have been cut off, so only the portion that sticks into the wall survives, which makes it difficult to ascertain exactly what the shaft supports originally looked like. Underneath two of the rows of the remains of cast iron supports at the eastern end of the trench was a line of brick, which measured 1.2m in length and 0.25m wide.
Aegis Archaeology Ltd, 32 Nicholas st, King's Island, Limerick
