2017:185 - Brittas, Thurles, Tipperary

Monitoring took place on 16 November of rainwater and dirty water collection and drainage associated with upgrading works of the 19th-century Brittas House. The house is sited within the bawn area of Brittas Castle, the sole Victorian reconstruction of a medieval castle in Ireland. Pre-works built heritage assessment occurred in June 2017, in which the chronological sequence of construction of Brittas House was mapped out.

During monitoring a portion of the medieval to post-medieval cobbled surface of the bawn was exposed in the base of a pipe trench at the south side of Brittas House. The base of the trench was at a depth of 0.4m with overlying levels containing Victorian evidence.  The trench width was 0.3m. The first exposed portion was 3m from south end of the 11m-long trench (NGR 212563 161455).  South of this the surface was truncated by construction activities relating to the substantial walled element of the Victorian moat. Some 1m of the surface was exposed to north, from which it undulated beneath the overlying strata, to reappear 3m to north for about 1m before it once again submerged beneath the overlying strata. The cobbles were composed of a mixture of limestone and sandstone and measured an average of 110mm by 70mm. While rounded in overall form, they were sub-rectangular to sub-triangular in plan. In the absence of further diagnostic feature or associated artefacts, the cobble surface, which is clearly pre-Victorian, has been interpreted as being of medieval or post-medieval origin. The works did not intrude into the cobbled surface and it was therefore protected.

Dunburbeg, Clonmel Road, Cashel, Co. Tipperary