1999:296 - GALWAY: Lough Atalia Road/Forster Street, Galway

This site was test excavated in September 1998, and several post-medieval features were identified (Excavations 1998, 80–1). The site comprises c. 4.5 acres of undeveloped land at the north-east edge of the modern city centre. It consists of three large fields, and an imposing early 20th-century house named 'Ard Patrick' stood on the high ground at the north end of the site. The site forms part of a glacial ridge that originally extended north-east/south-west along the Lough Atalia shoreline but was almost completely removed at north-east as the town expanded eastwards in the 19th and 20th centuries. The site is c. 500m east of the medieval walled town of Galway and 350m north-east of Forthill Cemetery, the site of an early 17th-century star-shaped fort. The 1651 Pictorial Map of Galway depicts the site as rough grazing land on the east edge of the medieval town. However, there is a tradition of military encampments along the Lough Atalia shoreline in the 16th and 17th centuries. The high ground bordering Lough Atalia would indeed have been an ideal vantage-point for military encampments, as it overlooked the north-east end of the medieval town and guarded one of its approach routes, now known as Forster Street. The site is also close to the strategically important early 17th-century star-shaped fort. Logan's map of Galway (1818) names the site of the fort 'West Fort Hill' and the area containing the site of the proposed development 'East Fort Hill'. This would seem to confirm the tradition of military activity in this area.

Excavation was undertaken, from 22 February to 2 April 1999, before the proposed hotel development. The excavated features comprised eleven pits, four linear ditches and two stone walls. Six of the pits were securely dated by their pottery finds to the late/post-medieval period. The dating evidence from the remaining five pits was inconclusive, as four of them produced both late/post-medieval and modern finds and one pit failed to produce any datable finds.

Three of the late/post-medieval pits were in a potentially strategic location on high ground on the north-west brow of the ridge. Two were of similar size, shape, profile and composition of fills and are best described as vertically cut, flat-bottomed, subrectangular pits (average dimensions 2.7m x 2.05m, x 0.75m). Excavation did not produce any conclusive evidence to indicate their function, but their strategic location suggests a possible military usage, perhaps as archers' emplacements or observation posts. The third pit was oval (dimensions 4.05m x 1.3m) and contained fills similar to those found in the two subrectangular pits, suggesting that all three are contemporary.

Two irregular pits were also encountered on the north-west brow of the ridge. One was very shallow with a subcircular, round-bottomed depression at the north edge of the base. The pit measured 1.82m by 2.02m and had an average depth of 0.08m, with a maximum depth of 0.28m in the depression. No datable finds were recovered from this feature. The second pit was larger (2.8m x 1.8m) and had an average depth of 0.45m. The sides of the pit were almost vertical, and the base, though slightly uneven, was relatively flat. The fills yielded several sherds of post-medieval pottery wares, and there was a small, central depression at the base of the pit.

Three of the pits on the south-east slope of the ridge were very similar in that they contained very large boulders and a random fill of smaller stones. Two of the pits were similar in size (average dimensions 2.3m x 2m, x 1m), but the third was substantially larger (dimensions 6.2m x 2.2m, x 1m). The dating evidence was inconclusive, but there was a very obvious risk of finds contamination owing to the high degree of voiding that existed between the stones. It is likely that these pits are contemporary post-medieval features, possibly associated with field clearance.

Two large oval/kidney-shaped pits (1: 5.75m x 1.82m, depth 2m; 2: 3.6m x 1.98m, depth 1m) were also excavated on the south-east slope of the ridge. These pits were similar in many respects but contained very different fills. One contained a series of redeposited fills that yielded a substantial quantity of both late/post-medieval and modern pottery sherds. The upper fills of the second pit were modern, but the primary fill securely dates this feature to the late/post-medieval period.

A further large irregular pit (5.58m x 3.74m, depth 0.95m) contained a massive limestone boulder that projected slightly above the top of the pit. This pit appeared to be modern and may have been a garden feature associated with 'Ard Patrick' house.

The excavated linear ditches represent field boundaries, one extending north-east/south-west across the top of the ridge and another running perpendicular to it down the east slope of the ridge. Cartographic evidence suggests that these boundaries were initially established in the post-medieval period and remained in use in modern times. This would appear to be confirmed by the presence of both late/post-medieval and modern finds. A stone wall extending along the south-east edge of the north-east/south-west ditch appears to be an insertion.

31 Ashbrook, Oranmore, Co. Galway