2026:143 - Barrack Street, Gort, Galway

The programme of archaeological test trenching undertaken at Barrack Street, Gort, has revealed features of cultural heritage importance, from the 17^th century onwards. The area has been occupied since the 7^th century through the medieval times with the O’Shaughnessy castle and mansion. In the late 18^th century buildings were demolished and rebuilt into a large military garrison. In the 20^th century the site was occupied by the 5^th artillery regiment and then the FCA – An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil.

Clearance works in the last 10 years has seen some disturbance and the filling of the site with 804 to a depth of up to 0.4m in the centre.

Test excavations revealed the 20^th-century building foundation wall in Trenches B and C and excavations of this wall revealed a large pit filled with loose stone in the south. Two musket balls were recorded during the metal detection survey in the north of the trench.

Excavations in Trench B revealed a deposit (C.12) that contained a fragment of post-medieval glass, a pendant relic and frequent inclusions of animal bone. This layer overlay a deposit of stone, recorded at a depth of 0.9m below the existing ground level. No further excavations were carried out at this location. A piece of twisted wire for holding shroud pins (17^th century) was recorded during the metal detection survey in Trench B.

The remains of the east-west running 19^th-century building was recorded in the south of Trench A and a layer of cobbles with the stone platform for a pump. These features were marked on the 1883 plan of the barracks. One musket ball was recorded during the metal detection survey in Trench A.

Post-excavation work continues and a final report will be submitted on receipt of all specialists’ reports.