1992:086 - GALWAY: Kirwan's Lane/Cross St Upr, Galway

The proposed development site is located between Cross St Upr and Kirwan's Lane in the heart of Galway city. The upstanding remains were surveyed prior to any development taking place, but excavation was not undertaken.

The Lane and surrounding area is of interest for the vast amount of extant late medieval remains. Many late medieval 16th- to 17th-century features including fireplaces, doorways and windows are known from the buildings surrounding the proposed development site.

In the past, the site was associated with the Dominican nuns and part of it was known as 'the slate nunnery'. In more recent times, it has been used as a bakery. Today, the entire site could be classed as derelict.

The area proposed for development contains the remains of 4 late medieval houses (16th to 17th century), 3 of which surround a courtyard. A (1651) pictorial map of Galway, while not exact in every detail, gives a general idea of the layout of buildings within the town at that period. The 3 houses (HI-3) surrounding the courtyard and House 4, situated to the south-west of House 3 can be seen. A feature noted on the map is the presence of lean-to structures at the back of many of the buildings. It appears from the 1651 map that Houses 1 and 4 both had a lean-to or 'back-house' as it is sometimes called. House 2 may also have had one but House 3 did not. Elements of these lean-to structures have been uncovered during the survey.

Summary results
The proposed development site contains the ruins of 4 late medieval houses, 3 of which surround a courtyard. Prior to the survey, the remains of 13 doorways were evident in the surviving fabric of the houses. Ten of these were of late medieval date, the remaining 3 were of 19th-century date. Five more doorways were uncovered during the survey, 2 of which are definitely late medieval while the date of the other 3 are as yet unknown. Twenty-one windows were known prior to the survey: 16 of these were of late medieval date, the remaining 5 being 19th century. The remains of a further 11 late medieval windows were revealed during the survey. Six late medieval fireplaces were known before the survey and another was revealed during it. Thus, besides the fabric of the late medieval walls of the 4 houses, the proposed development site contains 15 to 18 late medieval doorways, 30 late medieval windows and 7 late medieval fireplaces.

These remains constitute the largest concentration of medieval building fabric yet identified in Galway city. Furthermore, House 3, in particular, is arguably the best preserved late medieval urban house in Connacht.

At time of writing, the site remains undeveloped (March 1993). It is likely that features and finds dating to early medieval times are present underlying the late medieval houses and courtyard.

Rathbawn Rd., Castlebar, Co. Mayo