County: Roscommon Site name: BOYLE: Bridge Street (Termon)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 6:68 Licence number: 01E0784
Author: Martin A. Timoney
Site type: Town
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 580113m, N 802512m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.971508, -8.303116
Monitoring of groundworks for a replacement extension to the west of a three-storey building with a shop on the ground floor on Bridge Street, Boyle, was carried out in October 2001. There was the possibility of medieval remains in this urban situation.
From examination of the standing walls of the shop building and the 20th-century buildings in the yard, there was no indication of medieval fabric within the development area. Maps of Boyle indicated that all to the rear of the three-storey building is 20th-century but that the building itself is 19th- or perhaps late 18th-century. The digging of four foundation trenches was monitored.
Trench A on the south side measured 2.5m by 1.5m by 1.2m. All that was disturbed here was stones and builders’ rubble and some rubbish from earlier works in this area.
Trench B in the south-west corner measured 2.5m by 2.2m by 1.5m. All that was disturbed here was stones and builders’ rubble and a slab of concrete from earlier works in this area. Bedrock was reached at the bottom and water began to flow into the opening.
Trench C was along the north side of the yard and measured 17m by 1m by 0.9m deep. The concrete floor of a former building here was taken out. Several pipes were uncovered, indicating previous disturbance along this line. These pipes were in a brown soil which included red brick and mortar. Towards the east end of this trench there was a dump of stones, possibly a sump-hole as pipes were aimed towards it. Again, all that was disturbed here was stones and builders’ rubble from earlier works in this area.
Trench D, across the middle of the yard, measured 14m by 0.8m by 0.5m. All that was disturbed here was stones and builders’ rubble and some rubbish from earlier works in this area.
The stones found were examined and only one, a sill stone or a doorstep from an 18th- or 19th-century building, was dressed and has been set aside for reuse. This material contained nothing of archaeological concern.
Bóthar an Chorainn, Keash, Co. Sligo
