1997:209 - GORT: Bridge Street, Galway

An archaeological assessment was carried out at Bridge Street, Gort, between 12 and 15 May 1997 and again from 30 June to 11 July 1997. The work was undertaken in advance of a river channel alteration scheme. The initial part of the assessment was to investigate the archaeological significance of two areas adjacent to the Gort River, to the north of Bridge Street. Both areas were to be disturbed in the course of channel-widening.

Area 1 was situated within the grounds of Gort cattle mart, to the east of the river and approximately 80m north of Bridge Street. An area measuring a maximum of 60m north-south x 20m east-west was marked out for development. Of this, an area of approximately 140m2 was investigated archaeologically. The testing involved the excavation by machine of four trenches, orientated east-west and measuring 8-23m in length. All trenches were approximately 2m wide.

The stratigraphy was found to be uniform across the site, with four main layers occurring in each trench. These layers contained pottery sherds of 19th/20th-century date and showed a deliberate raising of the ground level in successive phases during that time. However, nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered.

Area 2 was situated on the western side of the river, 60m to the north of Bridge Street, and measured 50m east-west x 20m north-south. Four trenches were excavated by machine, exposing a rectangular platform of mortared stones resting on unmortared foundations, a cobbled surface and partial remains of stone walling. These features were all associated with finds dated to the 19th-20th century and seem to be represented on the 1:2500 OS map as being, respectively, the platform of a narrow bridge and a lane leading to a building known locally as a tannery.

The second part of the assessment involved the machine-stripping of topsoil from an area of 500m2, approximately 400m north of Bridge Street. A few features of a possible archaeological nature were revealed and a small excavation was then undertaken. Close to the centre of the site a shallow U-shaped gully was exposed, measuring 14.7m x 1.9m and having a maximum depth of 0.37m. The gully contained two fills from which some fragments of animal bone were recovered. To the west of this another gully, measuring 8.2m x 1.1m, was uncovered. It had a maximum depth of 0.43m. To the south-west of the gullies was a shallow subrectangular pit measuring 1.82m x 1.1m, with a maximum depth of 0.18m. Adjacent to the pit was a small posthole some 0.32m in diameter and 0.26m in depth.

None of the features contained any datable artefacts, but a single sherd of Cologne/Frechen German stoneware was recovered from the base of a soil layer that capped all the features. The sherd, probably from a drinking jug, is most likely to date from the 17th–18th century. The gullies may represent the remains of an earlier field system as their orientation was different to that of the field boundaries shown on the 19th-century OS map. The sherd of Cologne/Frechen stoneware may give some indication of their date.

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