County: Westmeath Site name: CLONBRUSK
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Eamonn P. Kelly, National Museum of Ireland
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 602950m, N 742725m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.434614, -7.955600
In February 1989, a team of divers from Athlone Subaqua Club, under the direction of National Museum personnel, undertook the search of two locations on the bed of the River Shannon at Clonbrusk, Co. Westmeath. Numerous antiquities have been recovered in the past from the general area. The two locations were those where it was proposed to erect supports for a new bridge, to be constructed north of Athlone. The search uncovered a quantity of musket balls and a fragment of an exploded mortar. Their presence there may be explained by the position of an important battery on the Connaught bank, overlooking the site, which formed part of the town's defences. The material probably relates to the famous siege of Athlone which took place in 1691.
