2005:1100 - BRIDGE STREET, BALLINROBE, Mayo

Pre-development testing was carried out over three days between 19 and 22 August 2005 at a site in advance of its development at Bridge Street, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. The proposed development, the construction of three houses, nineteen apartments and a shop unit with access road, car parking, refuse storage, bicycle parking and all associated site works, was located within the constraint area for Ballinrobe town.
A cinema and a brewery/power house, demolished in recent years, had been on the site. As a result of the demolition, etc., the site had been filled up considerably. The brewery was built in the early to mid-19th century and was owned by a Mr Tighe, whose proposed use of the adjacent River Robe to power the brewery was objected to by a Mr Kenny, the owner of a mill located a short distance away on the far side of the river. Mr Tighe apparently tried to divert water from the Bulkan River, located on the far side of the town, and this attempt is still visible in the form of a dry channel along the east side of the Robe. A court case of 1848 prevented Mr Tighe developing his venture further. During the Second World War a power-generating plant apparently made use of the brewery building. This venture continued to supply electricity to the town until Ballinrobe was connected to the national grid in the 1950s. The cinema was constructed in the 1950s and continued in use until the 1970s.
Four trenches were excavated to best cover the site area. These measured 12m, 22m, 29m and 40.8m long, 0.9–2.5m wide and 0.1–3.4m deep. The recording and assessment of three of the trenches proved difficult due their depth and the loose nature of the fill, which made up a large proportion of their contents. The stratigraphy uncovered was evidence of activity associated with the cinema and the earlier brewery/power house. A concrete floor and concrete wall uncovered were part of the cinema building. Two culverts, a number of walls and a mortared surface appear to have been associated with the brewery and later power house building. Above these features were hardcore and modern fills. Below the features and the fills was a dark-brown friable silt loam, probably the original topsoil on the site. Below the silt loam were sterile natural subsoils in the form of grey plastic clay and sand and gravel. Bedrock was visible in two of the trenches.
The fills contained modern artefacts. The friable silt loam contained occasional shell fragments, animal bone fragments, red-brick fragments and modern pottery sherds.