County: Westmeath Site name: MULLINGAR: Austin Friars Street/McCurtain Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0156
Author: Deirdre Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 644546m, N 753413m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.528789, -7.328126
Archaeological assessment took place at Austin Friars Street and McCurtain Street in advance of proposed commercial developments. A single trench oriented east-west was excavated at the site on Austin Friars Street and was 12.5m long, 1.2m wide and 1.3m deep. Rubble and red brick extended to a depth of 0.2m, below which was a layer of brown clay loam containing red brick and modern pottery. At 1.3m the natural boulder clay was encountered.
Three trenches were excavated on McCurtain Street. Trench 2 was 12m long, 1.2m wide and 1.7m deep. Footpath foundation of 0.2m overlay a sandy, yellow gravel that extended for 0.8m and in turn overlay the natural, grey gravel. Trench 3 was 13m long, 1.2m wide and 1.7m deep and was excavated parallel to Trench 2. A yellow, sandy layer extended to 0.4m and contained fragments of industrial piping. It overlay natural, grey, stony gravel. Trench 4 was 14.5m long, 1.2m wide and 1.7m deep and was parallel to Trench 3. Black, silty topsoil 0.25m thick was removed onto a band of mortar. Underlying this was a brown, sandy clay loam containing 19th-century material. At a depth of 1–1.2m natural gravel was exposed.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
