2018:376 - CRINKILL BARRACKS, Birr, Offaly

At the request of members of the Birr Community, and in partnership with Offaly County Council, the Irish Archaeology Field School (IAFS) undertook excavations at the site of the ‘Fourteen Acres’, directly west of the Birr Barracks (NIAH Reg. No. 14820012), Crinkill, Birr. At ‘Fourteen Acres’ a series of mock training trenches were constructed during World War One (WW1); these are recorded in a newspaper report on 7 August 1919 in the King’s County Chronicle, which records a staged mock battle as well as ‘sandbagged’ trenches.

The site was subject to a geophysical survey (licence no. 17R0238) from 28 December 2017 to 6 January 2018 (by Ashely Green of Bournemouth University) which identified a number of anomalies which could represent training trenches; the results of this survey have been previously reported.

Birr Barracks itself was constructed primarily from 1809 to 1812 as a permanent military garrison for Birr but was burnt to the ground by members of the Irish Republican Army who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty on July 14 1922 (King’s County Chronicle, 20 July 1922). Unfortunately, due to its systematic demolition for rubble, very little of the original barracks now remains, with the notable exception of its curtilage.

Excavations were undertaken to determine if WW1 era trenches survive at the site, as recalled in both historical and oral records; the latter of these indicate the trenches were only back-filled in the last 30 years. After enabling works were undertaken by mechanical digger, hand-excavation commenced of any exposed features on 6 August and continued until 10 August. Two linear sets of training trenches, an old gas pipeline and a shallow linear feature of indeterminate function were uncovered. All were hand-cleaned and fully recorded, before discreet sections were excavated. The description of the features is scheduled for full publication in the 2019 Summer Issue of ‘Archaeology Ireland’ and the 2019 issue of ‘Offaly Heritage’. All archaeological areas were back-filled on 11 August, with all features preserved in situ.

The dig was organised as a community excavation, was open to the public, and coincided with the 50th celebration of Birr Vintage Week from 3 to 12 August 2018.