2025:348 - Sacred Heart Home, Ardsallagh Beg, Roscommon, Roscommon

An Additional Archaeological Assessment was undertaken at Sacred Heart Hospital, Roscommon between 1 and 16 September 2025 under excavation licence no. 25E0433 ext. & metal detection licence no. 25R0241, both issued to Maeve McCormick. Two assessment areas measuring a total of 392 sq. m (AA1 379 sq. m, AA2 13 sq. m) were opened across the 560sq. m green space. The aim of the current works was to resolve the green space area down to natural subsoil with the aim of ceasing excavation should archaeology be encountered, to establish the extent of the burial ground recorded in earlier works and to establish if human remains extended beyond the boundary wall.

Several previous archaeological investigations were undertaken on site. These are as follows:

• Test excavation 22E0597 (June 2022, 2022:178); no archaeology found. (Since proven that Trenches 5 & 6 terminated at upper layer of redeposited natural, not natural subsoil as thought at the time.)
• Unlicensed archaeological monitoring (July 2024); boundary wall of the 19th-century workhouse.
• Licensed archaeological monitoring 24E0828 (August 2024, 2024:279); 2 x burials.
• 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.
• Archaeological Test Excavation (25E0433, 2025:165) and Metal detection Survey (25R0241) uncovered human remains within a large grave/mass burial along the line of the boundary wall (19th century).

Two archaeological assessment areas were opened during the course of these current works:

Archaeological Assessment Area 1 was opened to resolve the green space area down to natural subsoil with the aim of ceasing excavation should archaeology be encountered. The overall aim was to establish the nature and extent of the burial ground recorded in Test Excavations in June 2025 (25E0433). It measured 379 sq. m.

• Two linear features, Ditch (C31) & Drain (C38) and two pits (C33 & C35) were recorded across the open space. These were partially excavated and likely dated to the 19th century.
• A large grave cut (C41/C8) was encountered running east-west along the entire central area of the green space. This was the same cut (C8) recorded in previous archaeological works. It contained a single fill (C42). Human remains were encountered at a depth of 0.35-1m from topsoil, shallower at the eastern end (SK9 to SK12). These remains were not excavated and remain in situ.
• In August 2022 (22E0597) Test Trench 6 crossed this location and recorded nothing of archaeological significance. The cut of Trench 6 (C10) has been proven to have terminated at the surface of redeposited natural grave fill (C42) misinterpreting it as natural subsoil. This redeposited natural grave fill was recorded across the entirety of Trench 6.
• To the far east of the site a dark brown silty clay layer (C43) was uncovered. Human remains (SK13 to SK16) were uncovered at a depth of 0.25m to 0.4m, likely contemporary with the large grave cut. These remains were not excavated and remain in situ.

Archaeological Assessment Area 2 was opened to the southwest of the greenspace to assess the area outside the workhouse boundary wall for the presence of human remains. It comprised a test pit measuring 4.4m north-east/south-west x 2.8m x 1.4m deep.

• The 19th-century enclosure wall (C24/C5) which originally formed the southern boundary for the workhouse was recorded within this test pit at a depth of 0.5m. The wall stood two courses (0.8m) high. Part of the wall was uncovered during monitoring and excavating works in August 2024 (24E0828 ext.) and again in Test Trench 1 in June 2025 (C5, 25E0433). The wall was within a foundation trench (C25) which was visible cut through natural subsoil
• There were no human remains noted outside (south) of the wall.
• A deep cut (C27) filled with gritty mottled modern rubble and clay (C28) dominated the southern half of the test pit. It was interpreted as being associated with the live 1960’s watermains aligned east-west located nearby.
• This test pit confirmed the human remains are confined to the inside of the wall, and respect/follow the line of the wall. The burials post-date the wall, suggesting they are associated with the workhouse activities.

Metal detection survey (25R0241 ext.) aided in the recovery of a curved fragment of copper from C34, the fill of pit C33, and a corroded iron nail or pin found in C43 during cleaning around SK13.

Further works are recommended to take place