2009:399 - NEWCASTLE, GALWAY, Galway

Pre-development testing was carried out on 18 and 19 May 2009 at a site at Upper Newcastle Road, on the northern outskirts of Galway. The proposed development consists of the construction of a four-storey science research building with roof-screened plant area. The development includes a service basement as well as all ancillary site works and services. The testing was a recommendation of an EIS which accompanied the planning application. Geophysical survey and pre-development testing were recommended by the Heritage and Planning Division of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, due to the size of the development.
There were no monuments located within the proposed development area, with the nearest monument, a cashel (GA082–071), located over 90m to the north-east. There were no archaeological features visible within the development site. The geophysical survey of the site, carried out in March 2009 by GeoArc Ltd (09R63), detected a number of anomalies.
The proposed development was located on the northern campus of NUIG near the west bank of the River Corrib in a field of gently undulating pasture, which was quite wet at its south-eastern end and partly covered in scrub along its north-eastern side. A trackway which was visible in the south-east half of the area was a modern feature probably dating to the first half of the 20th century. It was marked on the 1946 edition of the OS 6-inch sheet but not marked on the 1897–1913 edition of the OS 25-inch sheet.
Testing consisted of the excavation of five trenches. The trenches measured 75.4m, 72.6m, 9.9m, 10.1m and 5.3m long respectively, 1.1–2.2m wide and 0.3–1.7m deep. Below the topsoil was recent fill, the result of groundworks at an adjacent park-and-ride facility, an area of field clearance, the remains of a drystone field boundary and natural subsoil. The topsoil and fill contained a number of modern pottery sherds. The field clearance contained animal-bone fragments, one oyster shell and one modern glass fragment.

Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered during testing. Most of the anomalies detected in the geophysical survey were natural, while the remainder were modern features: i.e. the fill, the remains of a field boundary, the field clearance and the trackway.
Unfortunately, due to the waterlogged nature of the south-eastern end of the site, it was not possible to investigate three of the anomalies, two of which appeared to correlate with the south-western and north-eastern edges of the waterlogged area and may well be natural features.