2019:826 - N24 Davitt Street, Church Street (Tipperary Town) Road Improvement Scheme, Tipperary

Archaeological monitoring and excavation was undertaken as part of the ‘N24 Davitt Street, Church Street (Tipperary Town) Road Improvement Scheme’ within the Zone of Archaeological Potential (ZAP) for the historic town of Tipperary (TS067-004).
The improvement works were carried out by Tipperary County Council and funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). The archaeological monitoring was carried out by the authors and Tony Bartlett over a fifteen-week period between 22 July–30 October 2019.
The monitoring area comprised part of Davitt Street/Upper Church Street, Church Street, Emmet Street (including in the vicinity of ‘Church Well’, a recorded architectural heritage site: RPS 67/NIAH 22108067) and parts of Bohercrow Road and John Street, all within Tipperary Town ZAP (TS067 004). Part of the area also traversed the conjectural line of the town defences (TS067-004009) in the vicinity of the junction of Church Street, Bohercrow Road and Emmet Street (including around Church Well).
During the monitoring, the remains of a pit were identified in Upper Church Street (Area 1); a ditch segment aligned north-west/south-east and pit were discovered in John Street (Area 2); a third pit was found c.18.8m to the south-east of these features in Church Street (Area 3); and potential archaeological deposits were identified in Upper Church Street (Area 4) close to the conjectural location of the town defences. Two modern stone-lined drains were also recorded during the monitoring works in Church Street. In the area surrounding Church Well, other than an iron strap fragment and a clay pipe stem, nothing of note was identified.
The ditch and a pit in Area 2 both returned medieval dates of cal. AD 1283–1392 and cal. AD 1226–1291, respectively; a waste pit in Area 3 returned an early medieval/medieval date of cal. AD 902–1115. The associated pottery assemblages (Tipperary-type ware) reinforce the medieval date for these features. The ditch in Area 2 may represent part of a burgage plot within the medieval town, or part of a boundary associated with the medieval church site (TS067-004003) located to the north. A small assemblage of animal bone was recovered from these features with identified species including cattle, sheep/goat and pig along with a few horse and dog bones; analysis demonstrated a mixture of butchery and kitchen waste, indicating nearby slaughtering of animals.
A variety of woodland species were identified in the environmental analysis (oak, birch, ash, alder, willow, elder, hazel, holly and pomaceous fruitwood). Oak volumes were significant, suggesting its use was not restricted, unlike other areas in Ireland during similar time periods. Archaeobotanical analysis indicated that all types of cereals grew in the local landscape in the medieval period, which continued into the post-medieval period. An assemblage of six metal artefacts was also found (from medieval and post-medieval contexts), including a possible knife tang. Metalworking analysis suggested that blacksmithing activity was carried out in close proximity to the site, at nearby forges in both medieval and post-medieval/modern times.
The features in Area 3 and 4 were dated to the post-medieval period. Three clay pipe stems and one clay pipe bowl were found, mainly from these post-medieval contexts, as well as post-medieval pottery, mainly dating to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with one piece potentially dating to the late seventeenth century.

C/O AMS Fahy's Road, Kilrush, Co. Clare