County: Galway Site name: Kilskeagh 5
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E004088
Author: Liam McKinstry, Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Co. Cork.
Site type: Post-medieval enclosure and structure
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 547561m, N 735492m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.367027, -8.787914
Excavation was carried out at Kilskeagh 5, Co. Galway, in advance of the M17 Galway (Rathmorrissy) to Tuam Archaeological Services Contract (2010) forming part of the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam PPP scheme in County Galway. The Archaeological Services Contract (2010) was commissioned by Galway County Council and funded by the National Roads Authority. Full excavation was undertaken at the site in June and July 2010.
The site was characterised by a stone-built structure, a rectangular enclosure and rubble spreads, which formed three distinct phases.
The first phase of activity on the site consisted of the construction of one rectangular structure, situated centrally within a rectangular enclosure and built on an artificial platform.
The partial remains of a rectangular stone-built structure, built upon an artificial platform, had a north-east/south-west orientation. The platform was subrectangular with its south-western end facing on to a north-west/south-east-running cobbled road (see Kilskeagh 2 and 4, Nos 346 and 348 above). The main function of the platform seemed to have been to bridge a large natural depression beneath the structure. The platform was constructed using an outer drystone retaining wall which was located to the south-east and parallel with the structure. The structure’s outer north-west wall lay directly over the north-western side of the platform. The platform’s retaining wall contained a thick levelled layer of limestone rubble mixed with some redeposited subsoil. The structure had a similar orientation to the platform; however, only fragments of floor surfaces, parts of the main internal wall and a small section of the outer wall survived, while the rest appeared to have been robbed out.
The enclosure wall surrounding the structure survived in the south-eastern area of the site, where a small portion was uncovered during the Stage 1 testing.
The north-west/south-east running cobbled road, which ran along the south-western end of the enclosure compound, continued on past an adjacent small walled field, at which point it branched off. One section continued in a north-western direction towards the sites at Kilskeagh 2 and 4 (see Nos 346 and 348 above) and the other went off in a north-eastern direction. The north-eastern stretch of the road was partially surfaced by a layer of cobbles and bounded on each side by drystone walls.
Phase II consisted of the initial demolition layer which covered the structure and the enclosure wall. The layers consisted of a mix of building debris, such as faced stone and mortar.
Phase III consisted of a final layer of rubble which was mostly 20th–21st-century field clearance and rubbish dumping. This layer covered the whole site.
