County: Wicklow Site name: Arklow Castle
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WI040-029002 Licence number: 22E0465
Author: Yvonne Whitty
Site type: Medieval
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 724184m, N 673515m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.798324, -6.158447
The Conservation Management Plan for Arklow Castle completed in 2021 set out a number of recommendations and policies for the conservation and enhanced presentation of the castle. This work involved the excavation of soil from the interior of the tower, laser scan of the castle and production of a series of scaled drawings.
A total depth of 1.25m of soil was removed from the interior of the tower which was 2.6m in circumference. Excavation ceased at a possible floor surface. The soil from the interior passageway was not removed in this phase of works.
The soil was putting pressure on the tower and its removal has enabled this to be alleviated along with exposing the cracks and defects within the tower.
The soil excavated from the interior of the tower relates to the castle’s phase of use as a military barracks. This military barracks was constructed on the site of (and using the rubble of) the old castle. The barracks dates to the earliest phase of barrack building in 18th-century Ireland. It is mentioned in 1701 and Major Clapham, Lieutenant Bates, and Ensign Webb of the 24th Regiment of Foot were stationed at Arklow in 1734. The finds retrieved from the backfilled material in the tower appear to represent debris material which was infilled into the tower in the 18th and 19th century. It is possible that this material was backfilled when the barracks was demolished in the 1930’s to build the existing houses and the tower functioned as a ‘skip’ to dispose of the excess soil.
Unit 10 Riverside Business Centre Tinahely Co. Wicklow
