2007:651 - Lavally, Galway

Phase 1 archaeological investigations and townland boundary surveys commissioned by Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority were undertaken along the 27.2km N18 Oranmore to Gort (Glenbrack to Rathmorrissey) national road scheme. Testing was carried out between September and December 2007 to investigate a complex of structural remains within the former demesne lands of the Lynch family, one of the Galway tribes. Other cottages, no longer extant, are shown on early maps and elsewhere on the demesne.
During hand-testing at Lavally, eight test-trenches totalling 20.5m2 were excavated across the remains of two rectangular structures. A limestone wall of uneven courses, bonded with lime mortar and containing plaster on the interior, was identified. This wall was the external envelope of a small farm cottage. Rubble collapse from the wall containing mortar was scattered internally over the ground surface. A layer of mixed lime and clay may have represented the internal floor surface of the house. Trenches 7 and 8 revealed remnants of another building to the east. The remains of two external walls and of a single internal dividing wall were exposed. The walls of this building were less substantial, consisting of stones in a very loose and friable mortar containing a lot of shell and soil. The floor level was natural subsoil. It is suggested this building was an outhouse for storage and/or animal housing rather than a human dwelling. The small farmhouse and possible associated yard and outbuildings are probably of an 18th- or 19th-century date. The site is scheduled for full Phase 2 excavation in 2008.