County: Galway Site name: ATHENRY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: RMP 84:1 Licence number: 01E0027
Author: Richard Crumlish, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 549998m, N 728490m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.304338, -8.750189
A rescue excavation was carried out between 17 and 19 January 2001, following unapproved excavations adjacent to St Mary’s Church and graveyard, Athenry, Co. Galway, in response to recommendations made by Dúchas. The excavation was required because of the proximity of the site to the medieval church and graveyard and its location within the medieval town of Athenry.
The site consisted of a small plot/garden, enclosed by high, mortared rubble walls, to the north-east of St Mary’s Church and graveyard, the graveyard being located across the south-west boundary wall of the site.
Three trenches were cleaned off across the excavated area to ascertain what, if any, archaeological material had been removed. The trenches were 10.5–19m long and 1m wide. Two sondages were excavated in the unexcavated part of the site. They measured 1m by 1m by 0.76–0.9m deep.
The stratigraphy in the trenches consisted of a dark brown/black friable silt loam (garden soil) above orange/brown sandy clay loam and grey loamy sand (natural subsoils). The stratigraphy in the sondages consisted of dark brown friable silt loam (garden soil) and a layer of pebbles (remains of a path) on the surface, above grey friable loamy sand (natural subsoil) and modern rubble. A possible cut was located below the dark brown friable silt loam in one of the sondages. The limits of the sondage were too restrictive to positively identify it as a cut/pit or as a natural slope/feature.
Modern artefacts were recovered from the excavation which pointed to the site’s use as a garden in relatively modern times.
Purcell House, Claregalway Road, Oranmore, Co. Galway
