2003:2355 - ATHY: Convent Lane, Kildare

Testing was carried out on a proposed development site in Convent Lane, Athy, Co. Kildare, on 20 May 2003. The proposed development comprises alterations and extensions to the existing SuperValu supermarket premises on Duke Street/Convent Lane. The site is located c. 100m west of the River Barrow and lies within the zone of archaeological potential established around Athy. Athy was a walled town in the medieval period, but the course of the town defences is unknown. It has been suggested that the southern section of the town wall, west of the River Barrow, was located c. 30m south of the proposed development site.

Testing comprised the mechanical excavation of a short trench on the line of a proposed new wall foundation and two test-pits on the sites of manholes associated with the proposed new service run. Two cobbled surfaces were exposed in the trench at depths of 0.45m and 0.65m below the concrete slab surface. The upper surface rested on a compact bedding layer of sand, gravel and mortar and this overlay a surface composed of medium-sized rounded cobbles with smaller stones filling the gaps. The lower surface displayed a general downward slope from east to west, and small pieces of brick and slate wedged between the cobbles indicate that it is relatively modern. This cobbled surface directly overlay the natural ground, a compact, mottled yellow/brown and grey silty sand. The cobbled surfaces are probably of 19th/20th-century date and are probably associated with the outbuildings, now used as stores, along the west edge of the carpark. Two test-pits were excavated at the south end of the existing carpark. Underlying the bitumen surface there was 0.6m of mixed, modern soil. This overlay a sterile deposit of dark-grey coarse sand and gravel (0.3m thick), which overlay natural, mottled yellow/brown and grey silty sand. No archaeological material was discovered during testing.

Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway