County: Wicklow Site name: Downshire Hotel, Main Street, Blessington
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 19E0044
Author: Seán Shanahan & Marion Sutton, Shanarc Archaeology Ltd
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 698119m, N 714356m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.170629, -6.532430
Eleven test trenches were machine excavated at the Downshire Hotel site (NIAH: 16303013/RPS: 05-04) to assess the impact of proposed development on potential sub-surface archaeological remains.
The trenches were excavated with a mechanical digger utilising a 1.8m wide flat-bladed bucket. Trenches measured generally 2m in width, and lengths varied from 9m to 29m. Stone wall remnants, garden hedges and mature trees limited trench length, particularly to the immediate rear of the hotel.
Trenches 1 to 5 were excavated in open green space in the north-east part of the site, the area behind the rear wall of St Mary’s graveyard. This area incorporates former tarmac tennis courts and a timber shed, and contained a mound of scrub covered re-deposited spoil close to the northernmost corner. Trenches 6 and 7 were located in an enclosed lawn, to the south-east of a timber-framed shaded walkway or pergola. Trenches 8 and 9 were sited on the north-west side of the pergola, in a small, enclosed, rectangular lawn immediately to the rear of the hotel. Trenches 10 and 11 were located in the central part of a long, linear lawn that historically formed the rear section associated with the Foley House.
Site stratigraphy was generally consistent, comprising of a dark brown silty clay topsoil above a mid-brown silty clay subsoil, which contained frequent ceramic finds throughout the site, and both ceramic and animal bone in Trenches 6 and 7, over a yellow/light brown sandy clay natural. As regards the latter, there was some variability – at the north-west end of Trench 1 the natural comprised pure, fine sand; in Trench 6 the mid-brown silty clay layer overlay grey coloured natural sands and gravels; sands and gravels were also exposed from 0.8m below the surface in Trench 10. The site contains a number of probable pet burials, with the remains of three dogs uncovered, two in Trench 5 and one in Trench 10.
Finds throughout the site were generally of post-medieval date (17th to 19th century), with the exception of one small 13th-century ceramic sherd (Clare McCutcheon, pers. comm.) recovered at the interface of the mid-brown silty clay subsoil and the yellow/light brown sandy clay natural in Trench 3. The find is indicative of medieval activity in the Blessington town area.
Unit 39a, Hebron Business Park, Hebron Road, Kilkenny
