County: Galway Site name: CASTLEGAR
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 103:104 Licence number: 98E0498
Author: Billy Quinn, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 532167m, N 728157m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.299360, -9.017600
Archaeological testing involving the mechanical excavation of three test-trenches on the site of a proposed house in the townland of Castlegar, Kilcolgan, Co. Galway, took place on 15 October 1998. Galway County Council provided funding for the work.
The site lay at the rear of an existing farmhouse. According to the Galway Archaeological Survey, a souterrain lay to the north-east of the farmhouse. It was examined by Professor Etienne Rynne in 1967, on behalf of the National Museum of Ireland. Also mentioned in the report is the discovery of a number of skeletons nearby.
Three trenches were sited to archaeologically resolve the areas that were to be directly affected by the development. Trench A measured c. 17m x 1m and was excavated to a depth of 0.35m. A sod and topsoil layer of dark brown silt with small stones, maximum depth 0.17m, with finds of a modern nature (crockery sherds and glass fragments) overlay a compact, orange-brown silt, 0.2m thick. This overlay natural limestone bedrock.
Trench B was positioned to traverse the site of the proposed dwelling-house. It measured c. 20m x 1m and was excavated to a depth of 0.8m. Its south-west end crossed over the supposed line of the souterrain as indicated by Professor Rynne's coordinates. Sod and topsoil overlay the orange-brown, silty layer, which here was on average 0.35m thick. Below this a natural, light grey, gravelly clay, with a moderate amount of limestone boulders and an average thickness of 0.4m, overlay bedrock.
Approximately 7m from the south end of the trench the stratigraphy was interrupted by a cut, backfilled with a limestone rubble deposit. The cut was c. 0.9m wide and 0.5m deep with straight edges visible in the section face. The fill contained a single modern pottery sherd. Trench C, which measured 30m x 1m and ran parallel to Trench B, was designed to investigate the proposed driveway area. According to the landowner, this trench crossed the area most likely to contain the souterrain. The sod and topsoil layer overlay a dark, silty deposit. This was moderately compact, had an average thickness of 0.25m and contained a moderate amount of cobble-sized stones and occasional boulders. Below was the natural clay.
Testing of the site failed to reveal the souterrain or indeed any archaeological material. Extensive land clearance work in recent years seems to have destroyed or concealed any trace of archaeological remains.
Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway
