2025:509 - Doughkill, Carrig, Tipperary

The proposed site, consisting of a redesigned community park, is located in Doughkill Townland, Carrig, County Tipperary, on the N52 between Birr and Nenagh, 5.6km southwest of Birr town. There is a recorded archaeological site located within the site redline boundary (SMR No. TN005-0300001—–; unclassified castle); the redline boundary also borders a very small portion of the zone of notification for another recorded monument, a ringfort (SMR No. TN008-006—-).

After being appointed as archaeologists for the project, and following consultation with the National Monuments Service, CRDS Ltd engaged a professional geophysicist to inspect the site, as initial site visits had clearly indicated the development area was heavily disturbed and unsuitable for geophysical survey. On 22 April 2025, Dr Ger Dowling inspected the site and deemed it unsuitable for survey, due to the amount of modern disturbance on site. CRDS Ltd also undertook a detailed walkthrough of the development with the client to assess the exact impact of every aspect of the landscaping development, which was minimal in most cases. Using this information a test-trenching array was designed that aimed to establish the presence or absence of archaeological deposits. It included four 5m hand-dug trenches closest to the castle site, and four longer machine-dug trenches toward the periphery of the development, amounting to a collective total of 114.9 liner metres. These trenches were dug, assessed and backfilled on July 24 2025, revealing no deposits of archaeological significance but significant evidence of modern disturbance.