County: Clare Site name: Bunratty West
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CL061-011 Licence number: 17E0105
Author: Graham Hull, TVAS (Ireland) Ltd
Site type: Medieval occupation
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 544916m, N 660947m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.696853, -8.814927
Test trenching was carried out in advance of a possible holiday home development. The site is located within the historic town of Bunratty (CL061-011) and is adjacent to medieval church CL061-01101, graveyard CL061-01102 and dovecote CL061-01104.
Previous test investigations by Bradley and King (1990a; 1990b; 1990c; 1991) found medieval deposits.
Four trenches were excavated. Trenches 1 and 2 contained evidence for a construction cut for a robbed-out stone wall. Mid 13th-14th-century Adare-type ware and animal bone was retrieved from the lower fill of the cut in Trench 1. The upper fill contained more Adare-type ware, baked clay, oyster shell and animal bone. A section of wall (possibly modern) was also found in Trench 1.
The fill of the construction cut in Trench 2 contained 17th-century North Devon gravel tempered ware, 17th- to 19th-century black glazed ware, a 17th- to 19th-century iron horse shoe and animal bone. An oval feature and a portion of another feature were uncovered but not excavated.
Trench 3 contained a denuded stone wall, possible occupation deposit and an overlying deposit containing animal bone, an iron nail of uncertain date and baked clay.
Trench 4 was targeted at the site of a late 19th/early 20th-century building. Three features were found underneath; two were undefined and the third was a possible post-hole. Decayed animal dung, slate, shale, modern red and white earthen ware, bottle glass and animal bone were found within the ruined building.
The medieval features are likely to be associated with the medieval borough of Bunratty. Full archaeological excavation is recommended in advance of development of the site.
Bradley, J and King, H A, 1990a, A report on archaeological trial excavations at Bunratty, Co. Clare, unpublished report (E000559)
Bradley, J and King, H A, 1990b, Archaeological report on archaeological trial excavations at Bunratty, Co. Clare (planning application P90/125), unpublished report
Bradley, J and King, H A, 1990c, Archaeological report on proposed development at Bunratty, Co. Clare (planning application P90/211), unpublished report
Bradley, J and King, H A, 1991, ‘Archaeological trial excavations at Bunratty, Co. Clare’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal xxxiii, 16-21
Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare
