County: Galway Site name: ATHENRY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA084-001 Licence number: 05E1247
Author: Dominic Delany, Dominic Delany & Associates
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 549998m, N 728490m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.304338, -8.750189
Pre-development testing was carried out at the request of Galway County Council on the site of a proposed new carpark on the Galway Road in Athenry between 17 and 25 November 2005. The proposed development site is a greenfield area located in the south-west part of the zone of archaeological potential established around the historic town of Athenry. The lands were formerly used as agricultural showgrounds and more recently as a football training field. The 1931 OS map names a ‘Leper Compound (disused)’ in the general vicinity of the development site.
Testing was confined to the proposed service runs, as it is proposed to raise most of the development site, thereby achieving preservation in situ of whatever archaeological remains may occur beneath the existing surface. Ten test-pits measuring 1.5m2 were manually excavated along the lines of the proposed service runs. The excavation revealed modern disturbance across the entire site area. This disturbance is probably a result of groundworks carried out when the site was converted for use as a training pitch. It was revealed that the site originally sloped away from the road to the south-east. This was evident from the fact that the original ground was truncated in the north-west part of the site, while the ground levels were built up in the south-east. The pits excavated in the north-west part of the site were shallow, averaging just 0.25m in depth, and there was clear evidence that the ground had been truncated during previous works at the site. However, the pits excavated in the south-east part of the site presented a completely different picture, with up to 1m of fill overlying the original topsoil. A substantial number of artefacts were recovered from the topsoil and redeposited material in the excavated pits. Most of the finds were modern, but seven post-medieval and five late medieval pottery sherds were included in the assemblage. No archaeological features or deposits were uncovered during testing.
Unit 3, Howley Court, Oranmore, Co. Galway
