2007:624 - 4 Presentation Road, Galway, Galway

Pre-development testing was carried out on 12 and 13 November 2007 at No. 4 Presentation Road, Galway, a site located outside the constraint for Galway city (GA094–100). The proposed development consisted of the construction of a two-storey dwelling and associated site works/services. The existing two-storey dwelling on the site dated to c. 1900 and was not due to be demolished as part of the new development. To the rear of the dwelling was a 20th-century flat-roofed one-storey extension (which was demolished prior to the testing) and a small backyard. The remains of the north-west gable of a dwelling constructed of rubble and red brick were visible along the north-west site boundary in the backyard.
Testing consisted of the excavation (by machine) of three trenches, which measured 3m, 2.1m and 8.1m long respectively, 0.9–1.2m wide and 0.5–0.9m deep. Below the rubble fill was mid- to dark-brown sticky silt loam, orange/mid-brown friable silt loam, grey sticky sandy loam, grey loose/sticky loamy sand, orange/grey/brown sticky silty clay loam and bedrock. The rubble fill contained modern glass fragments, red and yellow brick fragments, a corroded copper-alloy coin, modern pottery sherds, bits of timber, oyster-shell fragments and occasional animal-bone fragments. The silt loam contained plastic, slates, red and yellow brick fragments, modern pottery sherds, large ‘Liscannor’ flags, bits of timber, a modern glass fragment, a ceramic sewer pipe and occasional animal-bone fragments. The wall foundations and cobbled floor of the dwelling, one gable of which is part of the north-west site boundary, were also uncovered. All features and deposits uncovered were of 19th- and 20th-century date.