1997:584 - ATHLONE: The Quay, Westmeath

Archaeological test-trenching at The Quay, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, was carried out on 3 and 4 July 1997. The site is on the west side of the River Shannon, c. 200m south of Athlone Castle. Little is known about the development of Athlone west of the Shannon, but the castle, which is the only surviving defensive feature on the west side of the town, is thought to be mainly 13th-century in date, possibly on the site of a 12th-century wooden castle of the Uí Conchobhair (1129) and/or a late 12th-century Anglo-Norman motte and bailey castle. The site under assessment was probably located within the precinct of the Cluniac Priory of SS Peter and Paul, founded in the 12th century, which would have run down to the riverfront.

Two trenches were mechanically excavated. Trench 1 was located at the eastern end of the warehouse, oriented east–west; it was 8m long and was excavated to a depth of 33.07m OD. The excavated trench to a depth of 0.45m below the present concrete floor consisted of two layers of decayed mortar floor with pieces of red brick, occasional oyster shell, bottle glass and modern ceramics. This was underlain by a sandy brown clay which overlay a layer of peat containing small twigs and pieces of root (1.3–1.9m) with laminated layers of sand. Below this peat layer was a layer of fine sand which produced fragments of clay pipes and occasional leather offcuts.

Trench 2 was located at the western end of the warehouse, oriented east–west; it measured 10m in length and was excavated to a depth of 33.425m OD. The excavated trench revealed a similar series of decayed mortar floors as in Trench 1, which overlay a layer of rubble and brown loose clay containing roots of shrubs. This layer produced fragments of clay pipes and a piece of modern wood. The trench was excavated down to a grey marl of compact riverine silt.

There were no indications of any medieval activity on the site. The earliest activity can be dated by the artefactual evidence to the later part of the 17th/ early 18th century. There were no indications of any structures on the site, nor were there any indications of the earthen rampart which ran along the line of the site. The evidence discovered during the test-trenching suggests that the site was part of the precinct of the Cluniac priory, which meant that this area of land would not have been available for development until after the dissolution of the priory in the later 16th century. No further archaeological excavation was deemed necessary.

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