1997:458 - ROSCOMMON: Roscommon Jail, The Market/Castle Street/Main Street, Roscommon

Archaeological testing took place at Roscommon Jail during October and November 1997 in advance of the development of commercial and residential units.

A study of the historical and cartographic evidence led to the discovery on an early 18th-century map of Roscommon of the presence of a circular tower-like structure where the 18th-century jail now stands. The tower is shown on a 1736 Survey Map of Roscommon Town by Francis Plunket. This survey was carried out on behalf of the earl of Essex, who owned the nearby Roscommon Castle and much of the land on which the town is built.

The structure shown on the map looks like a small, roughly bell-topped turret with what may be a cross or finial projecting from the top of its roof. It would appear to have been of two levels, with what may have been a slit window at both ground-floor and first-floor level.

The fact that it would have been aligned with the front of Roscommon Castle and would have been at the end of the former avenue leading to the castle (as depicted on the same early 18th-century map) would suggest that the feature was connected in some way with the later (late 16th- or 17th-century) phase of the castle, when large mullioned windows were inserted in the early fabric and several extensions were made to it.

The tower could have been any of the following:
(a) an ‘Eye-Catcher’ at the end of the vista looking towards the town, at the embanked stone-faced ‘road’, part of which can still be traced in a long field at the front of the castle and between it and the outer courtyard of the jail;
(b)a windmill;
(c) a protective semi-military tower protecting the outer limits of the castle grounds;
(d) a dove-cot;
(e) a folly.

As a result of this evidence, a section was to be cut across the width of the yard of the jail. It was agreed to remove a shed immediately to the rear of the jail and abutting the exterior of its north-west corner and also to remove another shed further to the north of the yard of the jail. All services carried out in conjunction with the development would also be archaeologically monitored.

The cutting (Area 1) on the inside of the west wall of the jail produced a poorly preserved area of cobbling below modern rubbish and rubble. The cobbling had some Buckley Ware (black-glazed pottery) incorporated between the cobbles. Below the cobbles, an Irish halfpenny of George II, dated 1737, was found. The area was underlain by a pounded clay layer with some stone. Below this was natural. Finds also included 18th–20th-century pottery, some 18th-century pipe stem fragments, a nail, some lead and other scraps of metal, bottle glass and half of a horse hames.

Area 2 was opened to the rear of the remnants of the upstanding administration block and façade of the jail. It was hoped that some trace of the tower-like structure marked on the Essex map remained underground. At first the inner area immediately behind the administrative building was concentrated on, but no trace of any wall footings of the structure had survived. The excavation soon showed that the entire outline of the cell and latrine blocks was present. It was decided to excavate the wall footings so that a pattern of disturbance or alteration might emerge which would indicate the former presence of the ‘tower-like’ structure. It was soon established that the outer walls of the 18th-century cell block went down to such a depth that their construction would have obliterated any trace of the tower-like structure. The internal walls of the cells had not such deep foundations, but even these would have obliterated any remnants of an earlier building.

The floors of the eight ground-floor cells and the corridor which divided them were found to have been of trampled clay which was very densely packed and had pottery and animal bone ground into its surface. The pottery was 18th- and 19th-century in date and included Buckley Ware. The wall footings of the latrine block, which was added in the late 18th or first decade of the 19th century, were clearly partly superimposed on one of the cell blocks.

Five drains were discovered, some of which were stone-lined, some built of brick and stone. The fill of these drains included pottery and metal objects, and a fragment of a brown glass bottle with the moulded letters ‘S.É.’ (for Saorstát Éireann), which dates it to between 1922 and 1937.

Area 3 ran parallel to Area 1 and produced a light ‘garden-type’ soil in an area where some later slabbing had occurred and above which there were several late (?19th-century) inserted niches in the jail wall, some of which had foddering cages in them. No cobbling was encountered in this area. The only prominent feature was an arc of stones set in a very narrow and shallow trench. This was a late feature as the end of the arc overlay the plinth of the 18th-century jail wall.

Apart from 18th- and 19th-century pottery and glass, the area produced few datable finds other than another Hibernia halfpenny of George II, dated 1747, from the trampled earthen floor of the jail yard.

Area 4 was a long cutting made across the entire width of the jail yard. It produced evidence of several late drains.

The finds from the excavation were all of 18th–19th-century date. Some of the pottery found may have been locally made. Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) describes local wares being sold at the market just outside the jail, which by then had become a Market House. Some Belfast-made glazed marbled pottery, a quantity of black-glazed Buckley Ware, mainly from crocks and milk coolers, some 18th-century delph and some more exotic 18th-century pottery, along with stoneware ink and vinegar bottles, were found. Few clay pipe fragments apart from 18th-century plain and decorated stem fragments survived. A large metal weight with a supervision ring was among the more interesting of the finds. Two human teeth from separate individuals were found in Area 3.

It seems likely that all trace of the building shown on the Essex map had been obliterated before the present jail was built in the 1730s or 1740s. On the basis of the evidence of the two halfpennies of 1737 and 1747, it seems unlikely that there was much activity at the site prior to the 1740s.

A summary report of this excavation is to be published in the Journal of the Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society.

‘St Gerards’, 18 College Road, Galway