2017:136 - Clonmel Omniplex, Kickham Street, Clonmel, Tipperary

Four test trenches were excavated within the footprint of a permitted cinema extension, to the west of the existing cinema block at Kickham Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Within Trench 1 a section of the foundations of the 13th-century masonry town wall was uncovered at a depth of 0.3m (49.39m OD). The foundations were well-faced and the facing stones were bonded by a sandy lime-mortar. The core comprised of roughly hewn, uncoursed rubble, loosely bonded with clay. Running parallel to the north of the masonry wall was a possible cut for the town ditch, which was exposed in a small area (0.38m north-south by 0.27m) at the base of a sondage dug along the north face of the town wall. A possible medieval structure was also identified to the south of the wall, as well as a series of deposits, which produced medieval pottery, and post-medieval features and structures.

Trenches 2 and 4 were excavated within a neighbouring building and along the projected line of the town wall to the west of Trench 1. An extensive and thick concrete slab had removed all but the deepest archaeological stratigraphy and no trace of the masonry wall was noted. Probable fills of the town ditch were, however, recorded at a depth of 1.7m (47.93m OD) below ground level.

In Trench 3, to the south of the line of the town wall, the remains of a stone-lined well (48.81m OD) and a possible stone-lined cesspit (48.5m OD) were documented.

Kilkenny Archaeology, 12 Parliment Street, Kilkenny