1998:656 - MULLINGAR: Friars Hill Road, Westmeath

The site is well outside the medieval town walls of Mullingar. No buildings were present along much of the length of the road apart from two rectangular buildings adjoining the pound, which feature on a map of the area from 1858. The vast majority of the buildings that now flank the street are clearly of late 19th-century date.

Archaeological monitoring was carried out over seven days. An east-west-running trench was machine-dug for pipe-laying to an average depth of 0.72m and width of 0.7m. The total length of the trench was 210m. The trench was found to contain no intact archaeological deposits. The area had been dug previously and was riddled with sewage and water pipes, electricity wires etc. The fill of the trench consisted of gravel and stone beneath the modern surface. The only finds were 19th- and 20th-century fragments of glazed pottery, two pieces of late clay pipes and bottle glass.