County: Westmeath Site name: RAILWAY VIEW, ATHLONE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: C275
Author: Martin E. Byrne, Byrne Mullins & Associates, 7 Cnoc na Greine Square, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.
Site type: Adjacent to town wall
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 604123m, N 741644m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.424893, -7.937966
The construction compound associated with the development of the Athlone town centre shopping and residential development was established in an area immediately adjacent to the extant remains of the north-east bastion and a section of town wall. Consequently, the National Monuments Service required that a non-intrusive impact assessment of the compound be undertaken and that its disestablishment be monitored by an archaeologist. Furthermore, given the location of the extant remains of the town defences, it was required that the building contractors obtain a ministerial consent in advance of the closure of the compound.
The removal of the majority of the site offices and steel containers was monitored in 2008. The removal of the remaining site offices, temporary wall footings and footpaths was undertaken in February 2009, following which the site was returned to garden use.
