PORTARLINGTON — Cooltedery

Town of Portarlington was previously known as the town of Cooletodderie as mentioned in 1571 Elizabethan land grant to Owen mac Hugh O'Dempsie and described as containing 80 acres, which lieth southwest from the River of the Barough, and abutteth upon the town and lands called Bracklone East' (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, p. 51) The town is named after its founder Sir Henry Bennet, lord Arlington (Bradley et al. 1986, p. 42). In 1666 Charles II granted large tracts of O'Dempseys land which formed the manor of Portarlington and created the borough with a corporation, weekly market and two yearly fairs (Cal. State Papers, 1666-9, pp. 220-2). This new town may have been superimposed on an earlier settlement at Cooltedery mentioned in 1571. The town grew rapidly and formed its basic layout by 1678 when it is shown in a map now in the National Library of Ireland (Feehan 1983, p. 393). The town was laid out by George Rawdon and was fortified with a moat that enclosed the town and was surrounded on all sides by water. There is a market square in the centre of the town out of which the four main roads radiated out from the market square. Market House stood in the centre of the market square. The River Barrow enclosed three sides of the town from W through N to E and by a moat on the south side. The plan of the town shows triangular shaped bastions on the NE and NW angles of the town suggesting that the town was enclosed by a earthen fort with angle bastions similar to a star-shaped fort. The four streets radiating out from the market square were called King Street running westwards towards the bridge over the Barrow River, Bennet street ran North from the square, James Street ran out Eastwards and Queene Street that ran out southwards. Around 1696 two churches were established at Portarlington , St. Michael's and St. Paul's for the English and French settlers respectively and also two schools (Bradley et al. 1986, p. 42). According to the Calendar of State Papers Ireland 1666-69 'every house to be built within the fortification is to be built at least fifty feet in front, the walls to be made of good lime and stone or mortar and stone, rough cast, and every house to be one storey and a half high at least, and every storey to be nine foot deep from floor to floor, the houses to be roofed with shingles, tiles or slates, and to have dormant windows to the streets' (CSP, p. 259-61). Houses on the east side of the town leading from New Channel bridge to Katherines tower and on either side of the road leading from the great bridge to Charlestown. These houses were to be 'at least forty feet in front, the walls to be of stone and lime or mortar and stone, and to be ten feet high from the ground to the eves at least; and the house to have a good stone chimney (CSP 1666-9, pp. 259-61). The cruciform axis of the seventeenth century town still survives in Spa Street, Church Lane, French Church St. and the northern portion of Main St. The market place was a square at the intersection of these streets in which there was a centrally placed Market House. A printed memorandum of c. 1666 refers to the intention of building houses to the south of the town. This is probably to be identified with Foxcroft St. and the section of Main St. between its junction with Foxcroft St. and the line of the defences (Bradley et al. 1986, 43). Test excavation (Nat. Grid Ref. 25426 21265) was undertaken on the site of a proposed apartment block development at French Church Street, Portarlington, Co. Laois, on 21 March 2001 (Licence No. 99E0281 ext.). The development site is within the zone of archaeological potential in Portarlington as defined in the Urban Archaeology Survey of County Laois (OPW, 1986). It lies on the east bank of a bend in the River Barrow at the north-west end of the town. A 17th-century map of the town shows that the rampart defences traversed the proposed development site from south-west to north-east, and an angle bastion stood at the north-west end of the site. Four 20m-long trenches were excavated on the footprint of the proposed development. The stratigraphy was similar in each of the trenches. Modern topsoil overlay a mixed landfill layer, which varied in thickness from 0.05m at the south-east end of the site to 1.4m at the north-west end. This fill was brought onto the site about 30 years ago in order to raise the ground level, which falls quite sharply towards the river on the north-west side of the site. The landfill overlay the original topsoil, moderately compact dark reddish-brown silty sand. It had an average thickness of 0.15m and overlay a thin layer of mixed sand and gravel with inclusions of brick, mortar, shell and pottery. This gravel deposit post-dates the destruction of the town defences. It overlay a post-medieval layer, possibly levelled rampart material, consisting of mixed grey, light brown and red clayey sand containing gravel and small stones. There were occasional inclusions of bone, shell, brick and mortar, and finds included occasional post-medieval pottery sherds, glass fragments and clay pipe stem fragments. The post-medieval layer sealed and formed the fill of a 4-5m-wide flat-bottomed cut, which was discovered in Trenches 2, 3 and 4. It extends north-east/south-west across the site and runs parallel to the riverbank. This feature appears to be associated with the 17th-century town defences. The natural ground falls sharply towards the river beyond the north-west edge of this cut. The rampart probably stood on the higher ground immediately south-east of the cut, where a natural sand, gravel and stone deposit was encountered close to the existing site surface. The test excavation indicates that the site contains a post-medieval cut and deposit, probably associated with the 17th-century town defences. It is possible that the cut relates to the rampart construction phase and the deposit may represent levelled rampart material. It would appear that the town fortifications were levelled at a relatively early period, probably in the 18th century (Bennett 2003, 223). Pre-development testing of the site of a proposed two-storey dwelling and associated site works (Nat. Grid Ref. 25425 21264) was carried out on 17 August 2001 at Spa Street, Portarlington, Co. Laois, under licence number 01E0777. The site consisted of a garden with a small garage along its southern boundary. It was located along the east side of Spa Street in the north-eastern quadrant of the original town, along the line of the northern town defences. The River Barrow was a short distance to the north. Four trial-trenches were excavated. They were 9.2-20.5m long, 0.9-1.4m wide and 0.9-1.4m deep. The stratigraphy consisted of topsoil and gravel on the surface, below which was rubble fill, a mid-brown friable soil and natural sands and gravels. The rubble fill contained plastic and a range of other modern artefacts. The mid-brown friable soil contained red brick fragments. The rubble fill, visible in all trenches, represented backfilling of the site in the past. The mid-brown friable soil (found in three of the trenches) was probably the remains of the topsoil upon which the backfill was deposited. The sands and gravels located at the base of all trenches were a natural deposit, probably of riverine origin, considering the proximity of the river (Bennett 2003, 223). In 2002 pre-development testing on the east side of Spa Street was carried out by Billy Quinn. Three trenches were excavated and no features of archaeological significance were uncovered (Bennett 2004, 288). In 2002 monitoring of groundworks for the construction of a local authority housing development on Spa Street was carried out by Florence Hurley. No features of archaeological significance were uncovered (Bennett 2004, 288). Test excavation was carried out in French Church Street in 2003 by John Purcell under licence no. 03E0518. Archaeological testing on the Main St. was carried out by Ellen O'Carroll in 2004