County: Waterford Site name: Dysert Church, Ardmore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WA040-011001 Licence number: 20E0087
Author: Jacinta Kiely Eachtra Archaeological Projects Ltd
Site type: Church
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 619781m, N 577365m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.948027, -7.712256
Monitoring was undertaken at the site of an existing water drain at Dysert Church, Ardmore, Co. Waterford on February 11 2020 to fulfill instructions from the National Monuments Service (NMS). Waterford City and County Council are upgrading the path that forms the cliff walk in Ardmore. A section of the path is located to the immediate west of St Declan’s Well (WA040-011002-) and to the south of Dysert Church (WA040-011001-). There is a stone and earthen bank to the south of the walkway and the ground rises to the south beyond this boundary.
Denis Power (NMS) visited the site works in December 2019 and was concerned with the level of surface water that flowed from the hill to the south of Dysert Church. He recommended archaeological testing and monitoring of repairs to the water drain.
In order to address the problem and divert water away from the newly-surfaced cliff path and Dysert Church was to cut back the vegetation in the area to the rear (south) of the church so that the water course was visible. The ground is rock and this is the source of the water. The contractor decided that there was no need to dig a new drain in this location as the removal of the overburden of vegetation meant that the water flow from the west was now unimpeded into the existing sump. Hence no archaeological testing was required.
A new trench was dug by mini digger across the cliff path at the point (sump) at which the main flow exits from the rockface, approximately 4m to the east of Dysert Church. The trench measured 0.3m in depth and extended 3m to the north beyond the path as far as the edge of the cliff so that the water could exit over the cliff. The ground had previously been disturbed as a small yellow water pipe was in situ in the area of the sump. The ground in the trench was made up of humic material and the underlying subsoil was a yellow brown sandy clay. A new 225mm water pipe was inserted into the trench and the trench was backfilled. The edge of the sump was reinforced with a layer of stone.
The excavation of the trench in the area of the existing water sump, east of Dysert Church, was monitored and no archaeological stratigraphy or artefacts were recorded in the trench.
Lickybeg, Clashmore, Co Waterford P36 WA44
