2020:084 - Boyle Abbey, Roscommon

Test excavation at Boyle Abbey, National Monument No. 167, was carried out between 8 and 12 June, 2020. Four test trenches, located in the area of proposed foundation pads for a new external steel staircase along the north wall of the gatehouse, were excavated by hand to depths of between 0.78m and 0.88m. No in situ features of archaeological significance were discovered during the works. Redeposited, highly mixed fills with depths of up to 0.5m were excavated in all four trenches. Finds from the fills dated to between the 17th and 20th centuries.
A small area of cobbles, which appeared to be of twentieth-century date, was revealed directly underlying sod and topsoil at the northern end of Trench 2. No other features were discovered during the works.