1996:163 - PORTUMNA CASTLE, Portumna, Galway

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Galway Site name: PORTUMNA CASTLE, Portumna

Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 127:18 Licence number: 95E0074

Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.

Site type: House - fortified house

Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)

ITM: E 503971m, N 785316m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.808507, -9.458012

Archaeological excavations at Portumna Castle began in April 1995. Restoration work here is being carried out by the National Monuments Section of the OPW and has been ongoing since the 1970s. However, little archaeological work had been carried out prior to 1995. A brief examination of the flooring levels and the drains in the basement was undertaken by Con Manning in 1980, and several trenches to the north of the castle were monitored by Heather King in 1993; some work was also carried out inside the castle by Tom Fanning in 1979.

Preliminary excavations were carried out in order to assess flooring levels inside the castle basement and to identify problems with the internal stone-lined drain. An excavation of the driveway was carried out in June 1995 and substantial evidence was retrieved for the location and the precise line of the drive between the Adams gate and the outer courtyard gate, together with evidence for the use of wheeled vehicles in the form of carriage ruts cut into a compacted fine gravel (Excavations 1995, 37–8).

From December 1995 to June 1996 further excavation was undertaken, in the south garden, along the line of the main stone drain to the west of the castle and within the castle basement.

Trial-trenching carried out in the back garden (i.e. the south garden) confirmed the presence of archaeological deposits over the greater part of it. The bawn wall was detected running southwards from the castle on the west side in two of the trenches. The return of this wall was picked up during excavations along the line of the drain to the south-west of the castle and is represented on a plan of the castle drawn in 1791.

Archaeological deposits present in the third cutting seem to indicate that there was at least one east-west dividing feature in the garden also, possibly a small bank and ditch. Further east in another cutting at least one artificial cut was evident running in a north-south direction, indicating that the garden was divided longitudinally by a long hedge.

The entire testing therefore seems to confirm the presence of significant archaeological deposits in the back garden, probably representing cuts for hedges and flower-beds associated with the formal layout of the garden.

Excavation of the interior of the castle has revealed much information about the drain, floor levels and internal partition walls. Only a small portion of a flagstone floor survived in the south-west comet tower of the castle. A cobbled surface was evident in the north room of the castle and probably dates from the mid-eighteenth century. Two small drains extended north-south through the cobbles, one at either end.

The principal feature of the castle was a stone drain which extends diagonally across the castle from the north-east corner tower to the south-west corner tower and continues on outside the castle. It is constructed of stone with mortared sides and a stone floor, and the roof is lintelled with large stones. The drain maintains a constant width and depth of about 0.45–0.5m and the floor level slopes from the northeast corner towards the south-west corner, where it is 0.2m lower. In both these corners a vertical chute in the castle walls leads straight into the drain, presumably from the garderobes overhead. Several other drains of brick and stone lead into this main drain in both the north and south rooms.

Outside, the drain extends south-westwards in the direction of Lough Derg. It runs underneath the wall of the castle below the haha and the north-south bawn wall. Where it survives, the roof is pointed outside the castle. The drain ends rather unceremoniously in an open ditch further out in the field to the west of the castle.

Inside the castle in both the north and south rooms evidence was retrieved for partitions. These were timber structures, and the remains of brick foundations were uncovered for some of them. They obviously extended from floor level to ceiling height, as is evidenced by the slots remaining in the plastered walls of the castle.

30 Laurence St., Drogheda, Co. Louth