County: Galway Site name: ATHENRY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Etienne Rynne, Department of Archaeology, University College Galway
Site type: Town defences
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 550461m, N 727828m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.298434, -8.743142
A 1.5m wide cutting was made across the rubbish-filled fosse/moat outside that portion of Athenry town wall between the castle and the site of the former Brittin Gate in the NE part of the town. This part of the fosse had been lived in until well into the present century, and only the bottom 20–25cm of the fill of the fosse seemed to be ancient. The fosse was relatively flat-bottomed, 1.7m deep and almost 5.5m wide. It would have been water-filled originally, being about 1.5m lower than the present river surface at the castle. The original town wall at this point remained to a height of 1.35m, the lower 60cm of which projected to form a 20–30cm wide plinth. No ancient finds, and no clear evidence of an outer containing bank, were discovered.
