County: Galway Site name: GALWAY: St Augustine Street, Townparks
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Carol O'Regan
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 529666m, N 724729m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.268234, -9.054367
A three week excavation commenced on the 23 April 1990. The site, intended for redevelopment, covered an area of 1010 sq. m. The excavation was funded by O'Malley Construction Company. Most of the site was investigated during the excavation. The main feature located was a 33m stretch of the city wall. Built of roughly coursed limestone, bonded with a rough mortar it was approximately 1.5m high and 2m wide.
Two possible gun loops were located on the wall, c. 0.8m wide on the inner face and splaying to almost a point on the outer face. Some mortar was visible on the base indicating that they were floored.
Built up against the inside of the city wall was a foundation wall of rough limestone, which probably dates to the late 19th century as there were buildings on the O.S. maps which would relate to it. However, the inner face of the city wall was strengthened with a buttress in late medieval times and this could have been the foundation of this strengthening wall.
The area outside the city wall was very disturbed and contained only modern rubble deposited as a result of land reclamation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Inside the city wall were some medieval layers, from which eight sherds of late medieval Saintonge ware were found.
The few finds in general from the site included some sherds of late medieval stone ware and some fragments of post-medieval wine bottles.
95 Clybawn Heights, Knocknacarra, Galway
