1997:205 - GALWAY: 3 Prospect Hill, Galway

Pre-development testing in the form of trial-trenching was carried out at this site on 14 April 1997 in accordance with a condition of planning for a development which consisted of the construction of a three-storey building with three maisonettes at rear. The site is located in the middle of what was until recently Lydon's Bakery. Adjacent to the site in the south-south-east is the former retail outlet of the bakery, which fronts onto Eyre Square.

This development site is located outside the walls of the medieval city, to the north-west. The Pictorial Map of Galway (1651) shows the presence of suburbs on the north-east and north-west of the city, as well as in the Claddagh. The foundation date of these suburbs is not clear, but the presence of friaries outside the walls suggests that they had begun to develop before 1500.

Before excavation, the site consisted of a rubble-covered building site. One trench excavated during the testing revealed a grey/brown rubble fill, below which was found a sterile, dark grey, friable sandy silt which contained a moderate amount of stone. Below the friable sandy silt was found a layer composed entirely of small angular rocks, probably the remains of a drain. These were in evidence at the south-south-east end of the trench, from 1m below the surface to the base of the trench at 1.3m. Below the rubble fill and the dark grey friable sandy silt was found grey boulder clay, in evidence from 3.1m from the south-south-east end of the trench to its north-north-west end and visible at 0.1–0.7m below the surface.

No features or deposits of archaeological significance were uncovered during the testing. The dark grey friable sandy silt probably consisted of a second fill, located below the rubble fill, which covered the entire site. The stratigraphy encountered was comparable to that uncovered during trial-trenching by Anne Connolly at the adjoining site to the north (Excavations 1996, 43, 96E108).

Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway