County: Galway Site name: Claregalway
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA070–036 Licence number: 06E0792 ext.
Author: Rory Sherlock, 73 Churchfields, Lower Salthill, Galway.
Site type: Tower-house and bawn
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 537275m, N 733314m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.346330, -8.942015
Claregalway Castle, a 15th-century tower-house on the north bank of the River Clare, is currently under restoration and recently uncovered foundations of the bawn wall, a possible bawn gatehouse and two D-shaped bawn turrets were described in Excavations 2006 (No. 774). Monitoring and excavation continued in 2008 and a further 18.5m-long section of the bawn wall, which was found to survive to a height of up to five courses of stonework, was uncovered alongside the river. In addition, three sub-oval pits were excavated within the bawn area and these each produced animal-bone fragments and Saintonge sherds. The pits generally measured 2m long, 1m wide and 0.4–0.5m deep.
