2001:776 - LIMERICK: George’s Quay, etc., King’s Island, Limerick

From late December 2000 to May 2001, trench-cutting for a new water main, ducts and storm water was monitored along George’s Quay, Limerick. In the course of this work the town wall was exposed intermittently along the Quay between the present entrance on the east side of Barrington’s Hospital and the southern end of what was Mill Lane, now occupied by a modern extension on the west side of the hospital. Although somewhat defaced, sufficient lengths of both sides of the wall were identified in a straight line to plot a projected length of 75m measured from the southern end of Mill Lane south-eastward towards Baal’s Bridge. The wall would have met the southern end of the lane below or just west of the south-western corner of the hospital. The section of town wall identified by Edmond O’Donovan (Excavations 1999, No. 515, 98E0581, Cutting 2) at Baal’s Bridge was on an east–west alignment, but if projected westwards by some 10m would have joined with this wall under the footpath on the riverside of the Quay. Also noted, located inside, or north of, the eastern end of the town wall, were five other smaller wall remains whose positions do not relate to any buildings on any of the OS plans. It may be that these are parts of boundary walls of the properties described in the Civil Survey.

In O’Donovan’s excavation, Cutting 4, a wall extending east–west across the end of Creagh Lane was identified as the corner section of a mural tower, presumably part of the gate which, according to the cartographic and historic sources, was located here. Between Mill Lane and Creagh Lane, however, there was no reappearance of the town wall. Given its location at Mill Lane, it may be reasonably assumed that the wall was running under or very close to the building frontages along this stretch of the Quay. West of Creagh Lane, two insubstantial spreads of stones and sandy yellow mortar were identified at the base of the trench. These were south of the building frontage by 4m (eastern) and 4.7m (western). Although they could not be said to be the same sturdy masonry that was identified with the town wall elsewhere, it is possible that they represent the line of the town wall heading for the gate located at the southern end of Quay Lane.

An unplanned pipe trench was put across the western termination of the quay, in the grounds of what is now the Curragour Boat Club. In it, two narrow parallel walls, 9.5m apart, were recorded, both extending north-west by south-east. The southern one was 0.7m wide and at a depth of 0.45m; the northern one was only 0.3m wide and at a depth of 0.55m. It is possible that these represent the remains of the bastion-shaped construction depicted on William Eyre’s map of 1752 which separated the Abbey River, to south, from the harbour, to north.

Limerick Corporation, City Hall, Limerick