Philipstown — Townparks (phillipstown Lower By.)

The earlier fort of Daingean (OF018-006001-) which was an important O'Conor stronghold, with its associated church of 'Cill O Duirthi' [Killaderry] (OF010-035002-), is likely to have had an attendant native Irish settlement. However, the true town of Daingean had its origins in plantation policy commencing with the building of Fort Governor by Sir William Brabazon in 1546, around which a settlement steadily grew despite attacks from the O'More's and O'Conor's. With the shiring of the territory of Ui Failge in 1556, Fort Falkland and its settlement was renamed Philipstown in honour of Philip II of Spain. In 1567 it was incorporated by charter and granted a weekly market. The corporation was requested to fortify the town with fosses and stone wall and although nothing of these walls survive, there are indications of the former fosse on the E, S and W sides of the town. A further grant of c. 1570 refers to 12 messuages and a water mill within it and in 1598 there is mention of a gaol. The street plan is linear, Main St. running on a N-S axis off which the burgage plots extended. Fort Governor stood at the SE end of the street and at the E end of Fort Lane. Two armorial plaques bearing the arms of the Earl of Sussex and Mary Tudor formerly grace the gate entrance to the fort. Additional charters were granted in 1673 and 1688-9, but this walled town unlike its counterpart at Maryborough [Portlaoise] never really flourished and it received a setback, when it was burnt by the O'Conors during the Jacobite wars. It has been suggested that Fort Governor (OF018-006001-) was built on the site of the earlier O'Conor fortification, however Castle Barnagh (OF018-009001-) may have been the earlier O'Conor castle that was later replaced by Fort Governor (OF018-006001-) at a new location around which the sixteenth century settlement of Philipstown grew up around. (Comerford 1885, 303; Bradley 1986, 35-8; Loeber 1991, 16-18) Archaeological test trenching was carried out by Jim Higgins under licence no. 98E0093 prior to the development of a housing development located on the NE side of the Main St and to the SE of Bolger's shop (no. 54 Main St.). Six trenches were excavated and no evidence pre 19th century was uncovered. Test excavation was carried out by Dominic Delany under licence no. 99E0677 ext. on 13 June 2000 at the site of a proposed extension to a licensed premises. The site lies at the north end of the archaeological zone around the historic town of Daingean. The tested area (c. 25m2) had a gravel surface and was used as a storage yard. Four trenches were excavated on the footprint of the proposed extension and its associated services. The gravel surface covered a rubble fill (0.6m thick), which overlay a 2m-thick bog deposit. The bog consisted of a mid- to dark brown/black silt with frequent inclusions of organic matter (branches, twigs, leaves, bark fragments etc.) and occasional animal bone fragments. It was extremely soft, and the overlying rubble was obviously imported onto the site to stabilise the ground. The natural boulder clay was encountered at 2.5m below the existing ground level. A disused circular stone-lined well (0.9m in diameter, c. 1m deep) was discovered at the rear of the existing building. The well was partially covered with wooden planks and was filled with foul water. It was faced internally with roughly hewn limestone blocks and revetted externally by a rubble fill of unmortared cobbles and red brick. The well is undoubtedly a relatively modern feature. No archaeological material was discovered during testing. Test excavation was undertaken by Dominic Delany under licence no. 99E0720 ext. at the site of a proposed residential development on 8 and 9 January 2000. The site consists of a large L-shaped garden plot (max. dimensions 82m north-south x 84m). It is bounded to the west by a water-filled ditch, which may preserve the line of the fosse that surrounded the 16th-century Plantation town. The site of the fort that was the origin of the town is c. 200m east of the proposed development site. The south and east walls of the original courthouse at Daingean survive as boundary walls at the south-east end of the site. The east wall façade and an arched entrance gateway immediately south of it contain date stones bearing the date 1759. Testing comprised the mechanical excavation of six trenches (35-60m long). Several land drains (c. 1.25m wide) and areas of modern disturbance were encountered. The north wall of the courthouse was indicated by a foundation course of large, roughly worked limestone blocks (1.3m wide, 0.3m high), and a robber trench indicated the site of the west wall. A portion of an oval pit (1.9m north-south x 1.1m) was discovered close to the centre of the tested area. A section cutting indicated that it is 0.2m deep, and the fill was a mid-brown, silty clay with occasional inclusions of charcoal flecks, lumps of lime mortar, brick fragments, slate, animal bone, pebbles and small to medium-sized stones. A much larger pit (minimum 6m north-south x 15m) was encountered at the north-west edge of the tested area. It was 0.27m deep, and the fill was a grey, silty clay with moderate inclusions of pebbles, small stones, brick fragments and animal bone. The presence of brick and slate in the fills of these features indicates a post-medieval or early modern date. They may be contemporary with the 18th-century courthouse. Archaeological monitoring was carried out on the Main St. by Declan Moore in 2001 under licence no. 00E0384. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted during the course of monitoring Test-trenching was carried out under licence no. 04E1041 as part of the planning schedule relating to an extension to a national school adjacent to an enclosure (SMR 18:6). A series of trenches were excavated by mechanical digger and no features or finds of archaeological significance were revealed. John Purcell, 17 Balmoral Terrace, Dillon's Cross, Cork. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 April 2009