2021:633 - FETHARD: O’Shea's, Burke Street, Tipperary

Internal cob walls were found in a two-storied building with basement being refurbished in Fethard, Co. Tipperary. A building assessment concluded the shell was no older than the 18th century, and the cob walling was part of a subsequent redesign of the interior. A dendrochronological sample from a beam used in the original building gave a felling date of 1665, but the beam was reused, and the wide rings in other samples suggested all timber was from trees felled no earlier than the 17th century.

In August 2021 limited excavations under the cellar stairs indicated the basement was built in a gravel pit. Earlier building remains may survive under the west half of the building, on clay subsoil. An infilled ditch or pit predating the post-medieval building was not excavated.