2010:323 - Carrowmore, Galway

Test excavations were carried at Carrowmore townland, Maree, Co. Galway, on 14 April 2010. Testing was in response to a request for further information in respect of an application to build a house in the vicinity of GA103–098, a small 13th-century keep castle thought to be one of the earliest Anglo-Norman buildings in Connacht. The proposed house was to be located 20m south of the monument in an infill site, behind a field boundary wall.
Three trenches were excavated, two on the site of the proposed house and garage and one on the site of the proposed septic tank, which was located on a separate site across the road to the south-west. Deposits of shell were found in the north of the house site. Considerable depths of fill covered the site indicating previous levelling. A quernstone fragment and late medieval pottery were found within this fill in unstratified contexts. One of the middens was in an area which will not be impacted on by the revised plans for the house (it was on the site of the formerly proposed garage). The other large midden was covered in geotextile membrane and backfilled to be preserved in situ. It was confirmed with the engineer that the maximum depth of excavation associated with the proposed raft foundation will be 0.35m below existing ground levels in the south of the site (at 15.6m from the front wall). This area was found to be composed of modern fill. The north of the site (where the possible archaeology occurred) will be retained at grade. This will ensure a clearance of 0.6m above possible archaeological levels.