2025:165 - Sacred Heart Home, Ardsallagh Beg, Roscommon, Roscommon

Test excavation was undertaken between 3 and 6 June 2025 at Sacred Heart Home, Golf Links Road, Ardsallagh Beg, Roscommon.  Several previous archaeological investigations were undertaken on site.

• Test excavation 22E0597 (June 2022); no archaeology found.
• Unlicensed archaeological monitoring (July 2024); boundary wall of the 19th-century workhouse discovered.
• Licensed archaeological monitoring 24E0828 (August 2024); two burials discovered
• Archaeological Excavation 24E0828 ext. (August 2024); excavation of three burials; additional skeletal remains preserved in situ.
• Geophysical survey 25R0016 (March 2025); Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey recorded possible additional grave cuts and walls within the site.

The aim of the current works was to assess the geophysical anomalies and establish the extent of the burial ground recorded in previous works. Three trenches were excavated measuring 40.5 linear metres.

• Trench 1 was located in the green space immediately adjacent to the burials recorded in August 2024. Human remains were recorded c. 0.9-1.1m from the existing ground surface along the south-western side of the trench. The articulated remains of up to eight individuals were recorded, seven adults and one juvenile. They were all aligned east-west and laid very close to each other, probably in coffins and placed in a single grave. The grave cut/burial area extended across a c. 5m wide area.
• Trench 2 was located to the north of the car park. No burials/human remains or other archaeological material were recorded in this area.
• Trench 3 was located in the northeast of the carpark immediately beside the workhouse building. It was split in two trenches (3a and 3b) to avoid removing kerb stones (C14). A single pit (C15) was recorded in this trench, although this was not associated with burials.
• The metal detection survey (25R0241) recovered modern artefacts such as steel bars, a hinge, drink cans and coins from the topsoil of Trench 1. Of note were small corroded objects, likely nails, located near to the feet and heads of human remains at the base of C7 in Trench 1. These nails likely represent coffin nails. As the human remains were left in situ, so too were the possible nails.

It is recommended further works take place prior to any further development.