2011:244 - CHURCH STREET, ATHENRY, Galway

Monitoring and excavation at the site of a new parish centre were undertaken over a period of eight weeks from 15 September 2011. The site is located on the grounds of the existing Roman Catholic Church (built in 1968) and adjacent to the site of the medieval town wall and moat (GA084-100). In the course of monitoring, some thirteen burials, associated with the 19th-century church that once occupied the site, were recorded and excavated. In addition, a partially collapsed vaulted burial chamber, containing at least three bodies, was uncovered. This chamber was built on the site of a limekiln, a portion of which survived to the south. It was possible to preserve the burial chamber in situ. Elsewhere on site, numerous large pits were uncovered and appear to have functioned as extraction pits associated with the construction of the 19th- and 20th-century churches at the site. The pits were excavated to extract sand and backfilled with loose stone and rubble. Throughout the site a number of medieval pits were also uncovered, two of which produced fragments of 13th-century pottery and attest to medieval activity immediately outside the town walls.

Arch Consultancy Ltd, New Line, Athenry, Co. Galway