1997:199 - GALWAY: Custom House , Court House Lane/Flood Street, Galway

Archaeological excavation was undertaken in advance of a proposed extension to the Custom House, Flood Street, Galway, between 19 May and 7 November 1997. The excavation uncovered substantial remains of a medieval hall, a late medieval ironworks, part of a late medieval courtyard and two post-medieval stone-lined pits.

The medieval hall
The excavated remains of the medieval hall comprise portions of the heavily buttressed north-east and south-west walls, with opposing doorways at the south-east end of the building, and the remains of three centrally located octagonal stone columns. The walls are composed of randomly coursed, roughly hewn, angular migmatite boulders facing a mortared rubble core. They survive to an average height of 1m and are 0.95m thick.

There are opposing doorways at the south-east end of the excavated remains. The jambstones of the south door are dressed and chamfered limestone blocks and the basal stones feature a rounded stop-chamfer. The use of diagonal tooling on the jambstones suggests a 13th-century date for this door but there is also evidence of later alterations. The east door, of which only a single basal jambstone survives, bears no such evidence of alterations and is clearly an original feature of the building.

The walls are abutted by a series of buttresses built of randomly coursed, roughly hewn migmatite boulders and limestone blocks. The use of limestone and the different mortar type, as opposed to that used in the construction of the walls, suggest that the buttresses, or at least portions of them, belong to a second phase of construction at the site. One of the buttresses, however, would appear to pre-date the others and may be an original feature of the building.

The roof of the building was carried on a centrally aligned row of octagonal stone columns, and the remains of three of these were excavated. The column at the north-west is the best preserved, with three tiers surviving, each comprising four chamfered and punch-dressed limestone blocks. The punch dressing on the stones suggests that the columns are 14th- or 15th-century insertions. It is likely that the original roof structure was supported by large timber posts, but no clear evidence for these was found. The columns and the buttresses bear traces of an external lime rendering.

Traces of crudely built stone surfaces, composed of angular migmatite boulders and cobbles, may represent the remains of a stone floor within the medieval hall.

Late medieval and post-medieval features
Following its abandonment in the late medieval period, the hall was reused as an ironworking site. The initial phase of the ironworks is represented by a series of pits and stake-holes which were cut into the underlying medieval gravel deposits. The second phase of ironworking activity probably represents an expansion of the operation coinciding with improvements in ironworking technology. The features excavated included a cruciform-shaped stone-lined feature (possibly an anvil base), a decayed wooden structure, stone-lined work areas, pits and numerous stake-holes. The Phase 2 features were cut into thick industrial deposits which had obviously accumulated over a considerable period of time.

A roughly rectangular area of cobbled paving (10m north-west/south-east by 2.7m north-east/south-west) was exposed on the south-west side of the hall. The surface is composed of a layer of large limestone cobbles mixed with the occasional migmatite cobble. Smaller stones are wedged between the larger cobbles, the whole generally achieving an even upper surface. The courtyard displays a general downward slope from north-west to south-east and contains a well-defined stone-lined drain.

Two stone-lined pits were also excavated on the south-west side of the medieval hall. Pit 1 (1.54m x 1.35m) is cut through the south-east end of the cobbled courtyard. Loosely built uncoursed drystone walling defines its south-east, south-west and part of its north-east sides. The north-west side of the pit is defined by deposits which occur beneath the paved courtyard. Pit 2 (2.7m x 1.25m) is situated directly outside the south door of the medieval hall, and two buttress faces form its north-west and south-east walls. The blocked south door and part of the south-west wall of the medieval hall form the north-east wall, and a crudely built, uncoursed drystone wall forms its south-east face.

The east corner of a medieval/late medieval structure was exposed at the west end of the site, and part of a post-medieval wall foundation, extending north-west/south-east, was exposed at the south end.

The finds
A substantial quantity and wide range of finds were recovered. These include approximately 5000 metal, pottery, bone, glass and stone artefacts and large quantities of metalworking by-products and animal and fish bone. Decayed wooden structures, shell middens and significant charcoal and iron slag deposits contributed to the wealth and variety of archaeological material on the site. The level of preservation of the archaeological material was also quite good.

Hundreds of pottery sherds, mainly imported French Saintonge wares, were recovered from the medieval deposits associated with the hall. Other finds from this period include several copper pins. The late medieval period, as defined by the ironworks and the paved courtyard, was well represented by the substantial quantities of imported French, German and Iberian pottery wares. The industrial deposits from the ironworks also produced numerous stone tiles and corroded iron and copper artefacts, including nails, buttons, rivets, buckles, knives and keys. However, the post-medieval pits contained the richest archaeological deposits and produced a wide variety of 17th- and early 18th-century finds. These included wine bottles, glass goblets, glass beads, three clay pipe fragments, iron, copper, gold and lead objects, a bone bead, ceramic roof tiles and large quantities of pottery. The pottery mainly comprises imported English types, especially North Devon and Staffordshire wares, but also includes local wares and some Continental imports. The clay pipe collection includes several elongated stems and numerous decorated and stamped bowls and stems. The most spectacular of the metal finds is the small gold cuff-link or fastener which was excavated from Pit 1. Stone artefacts were found at most excavation levels and include quernstone fragments, dressed stone blocks, architectural fragments, a worked stone ball and, unusually, a couple of flint flakes and possible stone axes. The latter artefacts may hint at a settlement pre-dating the medieval hall.

Conclusion
The excavated remains can be clearly identified with the ruinous building depicted on the 1651 Pictorial Map of Galway, which shows a heavily buttressed rectangular ruin, with large round-headed windows and a gable surmounted by a cross. In the accompanying Elenchus this building is described as Illusmi D. Ricardi de Burgo Comitis Russi Vetera Aedificia - 'the old buildings of the illustrious Lord Richard de Burgho, the Red Earl'. This building is undoubtedly the Red Earl's stone house, which is referred to in documents of the 16th and 17th centuries. Following the completion of archaeological excavations at the site, that building can now be identified as a 13th-century hall. It is the oldest building to be excavated within the medieval walls of Galway and is therefore of great importance to our understanding of the origins of the medieval town.

The excavation also uncovered evidence for a second-phase refurbishment of the building in the 14th or 15th century. This is suggested by the second-phase buttressing, the doorway alterations and the insertion of octagonal stone columns. The building was probably finally abandoned in the 15th or early 16th century but it was subsequently reused as an ironworking site. The portion of late medieval courtyard on the south-west side of the hall would appear to be contemporary with the ironworks. The two stone-lined pits are 17th-century insertions and are most likely associated with the dwellings which were situated to the south-west of the site.

No. 1 The Mews, Mill Street, Galway