2024:541 - St Mullin's Graveyard, Saint Mullins, Carlow

Archaeological monitoring of project works associated with footpath remedial works was carried out in the graveyard (CW026-011001-) at St Mullins, Co. Carlow, forming part of the St Mullins National Monument (Carlow Nat. Mon. No. 3) and the St Mullin’s historic town (CW026-011—-). Archaeological monitoring took place from 22-26 July 2024, under Ministerial Consent, Consent C001374, E005699.

The St Mullins Heritage and Tourism Group, with the support of Carlow County Council, carried out remedial works to the existing footpath in the graveyard to address the poor condition of the footpath surface, which had not been re-surfaced since the mid-1990s.

The remedial works covered a distance of c. 225m, comprising the extent of the footpath on the perimeter of the active graveyard. Remedial works commenced on the east-northeast side of the graveyard, near the former Church of Ireland church, and continued anti-clockwise along the existing footpath to a point on the south-southeast side of the graveyard.

The remedial works were restricted wholly to the existing footpath surface. A very minimal amount of sod/soil, the result of soil creep onto the footpath surface at its edge, was cleared using hand tools, prior to the application of sprayed tar and 6mm chipping layers. The extent of sod/soil clearance was no more than 0.1m at maximum width, and was non-continuous i.e. it was confined to a few short sections along the narrowest parts of the footpath on the north and south sides of the graveyard, with no surface preparation carried out along the footpath on the west side of the graveyard. No stones or tree roots on, or next to the footpath were disturbed during footpath surface preparation.

The removed soil was visually checked for archaeological objects prior to disposal. No archaeological objects were present.

Following surface preparation, the footpath was hand sprayed from a mobile spray unit, using side barriers to prevent tar spray from getting onto any adjacent stones, headstones or grave surrounds. A layer of 6mm chip was spread by hand, followed by a second coat of tar and a second top layer of chip.

The footpath remedial works were wholly completed while avoiding any disturbance or impacts to archaeological features, deposits or objects at the graveyard.