1998:577 - SLIGO: Abbey Street, Sligo

As a result of an archaeological impact assessment carried out by Eoin Halpin in 1997 (Excavations 1997, 156, 97E0181) an excavation was carried out at a site on the southern side of Abbey Street, Sligo, between 4 March and 17 April 1998. The site lies directly across the road from the 13th-century Holy Cross Dominican Abbey. The excavation took place in advance of a proposed retail and apartment development and was part of the planning condition.The first area to be excavated, along the Abbey Street frontage, uncovered significant archaeological remains in the form of at least four phases of medieval activity on site. The first and earliest of these was a large ditch, aligned north-south, possibly connected with the boundary of the Abbey. The second phase consisted of another ditch, parallel to but slightly east of the first. This ditch contained the remains of a well-faced wall. The third phase took the form of east/west-oriented drainage ditches that cut both the Phase 1 and 2 ditch features. The final phase of medieval activity involved the construction of a building, probably a tower-house, over the infilled drainage ditch. This may be part of the structure known as O'Crean's Castle, one of the fortified residences known to have been built in this part of the town. Above these earlier phases of activity were successive layers of post-medieval occupation. Large quantities of disarticulated skeletal remains were retrieved from the excavation, but no evidence of a cemetery or grave cuts was uncovered.

The second area of the site to be excavated, along the eastern side, uncovered no evidence of any medieval activity. Post-medieval activity took the form of pits cut into redeposited subsoil and the remains of 19th/20th-century houses. Again disarticulated skeletal remains were retrieved from all of these features.

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