2005:1581 - MULLINGAR: County Buildings, Westmeath

Archaeological investigations took place between 18 April and 17 June 2005 in advance of the proposed development area of County Buildings, Mullingar. This followed on from the initial and subsequent testing carried out in 2003 and 2004 (Excavations 2003, No. 1995; Excavations 2004, No. 1762). The construction of civic offices and an amenity area were proposed. Three additional areas were to be investigated in order to complete the works on site. These measured c. 38.5m by 17m (Area A), 41m by 19m (Area B) and 33m by 12m (Area C). These cuttings were initially topsoil-stripped by a track machine with a 2m-wide toothless bucket. The machine also removed the sterile rubble layer beneath the sod as discovered in the initial testing. Subsequent levels were reduced by hand.

Two semicircular concentric walls were identified, with a series of cells, rooms and toilets located within these walls. The jail was centred on the Governor’s Quarters, with a series of walls radiating from it that segregated a series of exercise yards. It was a nine-sided building, with a mixture of prison cells, entrance rooms, toilets, boiler rooms, bathrooms, work/guard rooms. There were 39 rooms in total. In association with these rooms/cells there were nine exercise yards. There was also a cobbled courtyard linking the exercise yards to the Governor’s Quarters. The jail was constructed of cut limestone blocks. The cellblocks were arranged around the exercise yards in a 180-degree arc. The inner and outer semicircular concentric walls had a maximum foundation depth of 2.75m. These internal room divisional walls had a foundation depth of c. 2.4m. A corridor runs along the interior of the outer wall connecting the rooms and cells.

The majority of rooms identified within the jail were cells. They measured 3m by 1.75m. These cells entered onto the corridor, with the walls, like the corridor, painted black. Flagstones were used as flooring in some of the rooms. Eight toilets were identified within the cellblocks, one toilet per yard. Behind three of the toilets were large loosely T-shaped recesses with sandstone flag flooring. They were brick-lined and contained a metal grille at one end. The bricks exhibited signs of heating and burning and were blackened as a result. It is noticeable that these features were located adjacent to the toilets and the probable bathrooms. They may represent a type of boiler room for the heating of water in association with the toilets and the baths.

All nine exercise yards were identified. These radiated in a semicircular shape from the Governor’s Quarters, expanding as they moved southwards to the cellblocks. These yards were in turn separated by radial walls. Eight radial walls were identified separating the nine exercise yards. These walls were less substantial than the cellblock structural walls. They were consistent in length, with a standard 100ft or 31.5m being recorded. It is likely that these radial walls were c. 3.45m (c. 11ft) high and topped with coping stones.

Seven of the nine exercise yards produced evidence for oval paths, for the daily exercise of the prisoners. The paths were of compacted gravel and c. 0.8m wide. A second path was identified running down the centre of four yards. These paths were aligned to the ground-floor entrance/hallway into the cellblocks to the south and to the cobbled courtyard in front of the Governor’s Quarters to the north. A third path in each yard runs parallel to the inner structural wall.

A stone-lined culvert was identified outside the outer wall. It was orientated east–west and ran parallel to the boundary wall to the south-west corner of the site, where it drained out into the River Brosna. Three drains ran south into the culvert and north underneath the cellblocks, presumably to link up with the sewer system for the toilets and the bathrooms. They were stone-built and covered by large limestone lintels and filled with cracked limestone.

In front of the Governor’s Quarters was a semicircular cobbled courtyard. The cobbles outlined a path from the inner to the outer wall opposite each exercise yard, with a design of an ‘X’ laid out in the intervening spaces. Positioned just off-centre of the courtyard were a number of light-pink-coloured cobbles set down in the shape of the royal crown, with the partial fragments of possible lettering of ‘VR’ beneath it.

As well as completing the excavation of the enclosing arc of the cellblock, the location of the cook and laundry house that lay on the western side of the Governor’s Quarters was also examined. This structure was separate from the main cellblock and was only connected through a series of yards and the cobbled courtyard. The building was comprised of two rooms, which were separated by a north–south-running partition wall. The laundry room was located to the west and the cookhouse to the east. Room 1 appeared to represent the laundry facilities of the jail and was situated at the western end of the building. It measured 9.55m east–west by 4m. Located in the south-west corner was a series of large to medium-sized square and rectangular limestone flagstones that made up the flooring for the room. Within the room was a large concrete-like surface where some form of machinery for laundry may have been placed. This surface also had remnants of where supports/legs once stood, with pipes and services running away from it again indicating some form of domestic activity. The entrance into this building was in the south-west corner of the room. Room 2 appeared to represent the cooking facilities of the jail and was at the eastern end of the building. It measured 12m east–west by 3.55–8m. At the eastern end of the room were the two features that suggest that this was the cooking room. The first consisted of a red and yellow brick floor of a possible kiln. The second feature represents either a boiler room or coal room. A series of abutting walls may point to a small storage room at the western end of the laundry room. Investigations showed a large rectangular yard located to the south of the cook/laundry house. It was subsequently subdivided into two yards. Located in the north-west corner of the westernmost yard was some form of small shed or outbuilding. Beneath the yard levels to the south of the cook/laundry house was a linear ditch/drain. It measured c. 34m east–west and produced one sherd of possible Leinster cooking ware. The feature is not substantial enough to represent a defensive ditch and may therefore be the remnants of a drain or gully traversing the southern extremity of the town.

Finds from the jail corresponded to the historical dating of the site (1824–c. 1910) and included clay-pipe fragments, glass, iron nails, window bars, pottery, bone comb, bone toothbrush, buttons, razors, wooden handles (knives, forks, etc.), bottles, coins, leather shoe fragments and butchered bone.

The remains of William le Petit’s motte and bailey, which were recorded as being located on the site of the jail, were not discovered. Approximately thirteen box cuts were placed across the site (including test-trenches of 2003) to a maximum depth of 2.75m. It is possible that the motte and bailey were located at a higher elevation further north, centring on the site of the present County Buildings.

Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny