County: Galway Site name: LOUGHREA: Abbey Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0310
Author: Richard Crumlish, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 561833m, N 716717m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.199527, -8.571234
Pre-development testing in the form of trial-trenching was carried out on 14, 15 and 20 August 1997 in accordance with a condition of planning for a new development.
The site would have been located within the original town defences, adjacent to the northern boundary of the original settlement, which was founded by Richard de Burgh in the 13th century. A letter of 1574 describes the town as well ditched and trenched, with walls. The line of the wall is still visible and the ditch referred to is still in evidence, the remains of a water-filled fosse, located just outside the line of the town wall. Previous excavations by Alan Hayden in the south-west corner of the town (Excavations 1987, 15) exposed the remains of a wall (noted initially by Paul Gosling during a watching brief), 0.7m wide, believed to have been constructed after the fosse.
Prior to excavation the site consisted of two outhouses which faced onto the street and a backyard. This backyard was once a farmyard and contained the remains of three outhouses in various states of repair. The northern boundary wall is built along the line of the original town defences. Outside the northern boundary wall was located a watercourse.
Six trenches were excavated. The similar stratigraphy encountered in five of them consisted of topsoil and a layer of gravel and pebbles or concrete, located on the surface. Below these was located blue/grey natural boulder clay. The northern boundary wall ran along the northern side of three of these trenches. It was rubble-built, directly on the natural boulder clay, and contained modern artefacts in its foundation.
The stratigraphy in the remaining trench, located within one of the outhouses which fronted onto Abbey Street, consisted of a layer of cut turf and turf mould on the surface, below which were the remains of an area of flagstones and its base. Two sherds of modern pottery were taken from the base of the floor. Below the flagstones was boulder clay. The area of flagstones found within the outhouse represents the original floor level of this building. The modern pottery sherds found in the base material of the flagstones would seem to date this building to the last 200 years.
Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway
