2008:547 - Francis Street, Galway, Galway

Pre-development testing was undertaken on a site at Francis Street, Galway. The development involves the construction of a two-storey extension at the rear of a building, ancillary siteworks and a single-storey extension adjacent to St Francis’ Church. The proposed development is located in an area of rich archaeological and historical importance. The Franciscan friary was originally located to the north of the site and the grounds would have extended into the area of the proposed development. The present church of the Franciscans, constructed in the 19th century, is located to the immediate north of the proposed single-storey construction. The area immediately surrounding the development is the site of an important graveyard associated originally with the Abbey. The acreage of this graveyard was reduced in the 1970s and many of the burials filled over. The present Mercy school, to the immediate south of the site, is located on the site of industrial mills of the 19th and 20th century.
Testing was undertaken to ascertain if archaeological features or artefacts would be disturbed by the development at this location. The excavation of three trenches (A–C) in the south of the site uncovered the remains of an east–west-running wall, which will be directly impacted by the proposed development. The construction of the wall with red brick in its infill and the recovery of 19th/20th-century finds would suggest that the feature is 18th–20th-century in date and may relate to industrial buildings in the adjoining site. The only other feature uncovered was a drain revealed in Trench D.
The plans of the development indicated that subsurface features would be affected by the proposed development at the site. Following consultation with the builders and architects a suitable foundation plan was prepared to ensure that the features uncovered would not be disturbed by the proposed development. Pile foundations were recommended and all further disturbance at the site was monitored.