2021:606 - Arklow Parade Ground, Arklow, Wicklow

Phase 1 of archaeological monitoring of ground disturbance as part of the Arklow Parade Ground upgrade was undertaken between mid-September and early October 2021. The works were focused on the excavation of a new duct and slit trenches which were excavated to confirm the location of some existing services. Works were ceased in early October and the main construction works associated with the project have not yet commenced.

Three walls were recorded in a slit trench that extended along the access avenue of the courthouse (two walls may relate to the presence of earlier structures that were at this location as marked on OS First Edition 6" Map. The third and southernmost wall is the foundation of the original boundary wall to the grounds of the later nineteenth-century courthouse).

Two stone culverts were identified along the edge of the road carriageway to either side of the Parade Ground Road; a northern culvert and a southern culvert. Both culverts would have originally directed surface water downhill in a north-easterly direction. Both culverts are built into a narrow trench which in many places cuts through the soft shale bedrock.

No diagnostic finds or features were uncovered from either culvert. An indication of a possible nineteenth-century construction was in the occasional use of red-brick fragments within the fabric of the northern culvert and within the backfill material. The course of both culverts is identical to the edge of the modern footpaths/road carriageway. This portion of the town was extensively remodeled in the later 1800s. Newer buildings including the Courthouse, Church and other substantial townhouses were constructed. The positioning of these culverts potentially reflects this remodeled layout.

Further phases of monitoring are to be carried out.