County: Galway Site name: ARD WEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03R136
Author: Jerry O’Sullivan, National Roads Design Office and Kevin Barton, Landscape & Geophysical Surveys Ltd.
Site type: Pier/jetty
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 475021m, N 731009m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.314586, -9.875637
Assessment of Ard West Harbour was conducted in advance of proposed widening of the navigation channel by Galway County Council. The assessment included a desk-based study, intertidal inspection, a swim survey of the navigation channel and a total station survey of the main harbour features. A metal detector survey of intertidal sandy flats was attempted but ferrous boulders within the sand made this non-viable.
The harbour is formed by a narrow deep inlet. The present pier is a fine masonry structure of the 1880s, now used mainly by a few local fishing boats. The historic importance of the harbour in earlier times is attested by the remains of a former O’Flaherty towerhouse (SMR 76:1) at the head of the inlet.
The present assessment did not identify any features, sediments or objects of archaeological importance likely to be affected by the proposed works (i.e. the navigation channel). Elsewhere, however, several small landing places and a dry dock were recorded. These were built along the high-water margin in the inner harbour using large boulders. They seemed to be associated with nearby early modern cottages but could represent a long tradition of vernacular construction of marine works in the region, perhaps extending back to the period of construction of the O’Flaherty tower.
Galway County Council and 12 James Street, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
