2009:402 - 23 AND 25 QUAY STREET AND 2–4 QUAY LANE, TOWNPARKS, GALWAY, Galway

Testing was carried out at Quay Street and Quay Lane in the centre of Galway city in October 2009. The buildings are protected structures and lie within the medieval core of Galway, which is an architectural conservation area. Furthermore, the site is in the zone of archaeological potential for the historic town (GA094–100) and there is known medieval fabric within No. 23 and potentially within No. 25 Quay Street. Due to the depth of concrete in some units, excavation was limited to investigating one L-shaped trench which was later extended both to the north and south. The trench initially measured 3m westsouth-west/east-south-east by 4.75m north-west by south east and was excavated to a maximum depth of 0.95m. It was designed to investigate both the foundations of a demolished internal wall between No. 25 Quay Street and No. 2 Quay Lane and the interior of the front wall facing Quay Lane. On-site works began by mechanically cutting through the concrete and removing the rubble. This surface layer had a depth of 0.2–0.35m reinforced with iron rods. Excavation exposed a significant rubble-built foundation bonded with a grey/white mortar orientated west-south-west/east-south-east (C8 and C9). This wall measured 2.75m in length by c. 1m in width. Its condition varied along its length. To the east its upper course had been impacted on by a later modern service installation that had removed a number of stones exposing its rubble core. Elsewhere the wall appeared to have a difference in mortar between its north-west and south-east side. Also notable was the fair face visible on the south-east side of the wall, contrasting with the rougher finish on the opposite side. Within the extension, to the north-east below the builders’ fill, was an assortment of collapsed stone in a sandy mortar-rich matrix (C11). This layer is significant because it potentially indicated the presence of an earlier structure. The layer was trowelled back and left in situ.
Along the Quay Lane side of Trench 1 the stratigraphy below the concrete consisted of a mixed builders’ fill with some in situ red brick. This layer measured 0.3m in depth and was cut through by modern services and earlier ceramic pipes. Below this was a dark-brown silty layer with shell, mortar and charcoal flecks. This layer, 0.1m deep, overlay C10, a deposit known colloquially as the ^Galway Layer’. This material has been found throughout the medieval town and is characterised by its dark, organic-rich peaty texture with frequent shell and moderate amounts of animal bone. C10 was only partially excavated as flooding from the water-table made further progress impractical. Protruding from C10 and abutting the wall (C8) were a number of stones forming a small buttress. One of these stones was squared and had a chamfered edge. South of this along the base of the trench were a number of unevenly placed paving stones (C3). These were originally interpreted as forming the base of a culvert but are more likely to have been an earlier surface. Finds recovered from this area consisted of one sherd of pottery identified as a Bellermine-like sherd from John Dwight’s potters, a Fulham-based company that produced ware from the late 17th to early 18th century, and an architectural fragment with a well-defined chamfered edge.

Trench 1 was later extended to the south-east to further examine the wall (C8) and determine if the buttress identified earlier continued towards the north. The extension measured 1.7m long by 0.9m wide and exposed a roughly cobbled surface with some paving on a sandy bed corresponding to what was excavated in the adjacent trench (C3). The condition of the cobbles was poor and had been previously impacted on and it was impossible to determine whether they formed an interior or exterior surface. The cobbles were exposed at a depth of 0.65m.
In conclusion, Trench 1 exposed a wall foundation (C8), collapsed rubble stone to the northwest (C11) and some paving stones to the south-east (C3) as well as a layer of archaeological potential (C10). Due to safety considerations and the high water-table it was not possible to expose the cut for the foundations of the wall. However, the collapsed stone, the architectural fragment and pieces of broken slate would suggest that there was originally an earlier structure. This is significant, given the early modern date of the existing building, and suggests that the site was developed from the medieval period onwards. In determining a broad date, No. 25 Quay Street can be described as a roughly rectangular building with upstanding post-medieval features (1500–1800 AD) with possibly an earlier late medieval foundation, all of which combine to underline the building’s architectural and historical significance within the existing streetscape.