2012:539 - SLIGO, Sligo

Enhancement works in five streets in the centre of Sligo town were monitored in two distict phases of works in early 2012 or late 2012, under the original licence or extensions of same. Each street is treated on its own below. For mappings of Sligo town see Gallagher (2008) and Gallagher and Legg (2012).

Castle Street, Knappagh Beg and Abbeyquarter South, 169194 335829
The works at the west end of Castle Street involved laying two new water mains under the road and some laying of brick paving. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted.

Grattan Street, Magheraboy, 169146 3357843
The works in Grattan Street involved laying two new water mains under the road, new ducting under the footpath on the south side and the laying of brick paving. Trenching for the two new water mains for the length of the street was through ground already very active with old water, gas, ESB, phone and broadband ducts as well as a substantial stone sewage culvert running near the centre of the street. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted here.

The under-paving ducting, which was no more than 0.3m deep, at the east end of the south side of the street, was carried out in late 2012. It revealed a number of pits with shells, mainly oyster. One was c. 2m in diameter and had large stones lining the sides. Only the ground required for the ducts was dug out and the depth of the pit was not investigated. If the pit is circular then it continues under the existing buildings. The other two pits were much smaller and one of these may also have had a lining of stones. There was no dating evidence for these pits.

The curious alignment of the existing footpath reflected the set-back of the former building. As we have seen elsewhere in Sligo, e.g. High Street, rocks had been used as the foundations of the walls of that building.

Harmony Hill, Magheraboy, 169105 335794
Replacement of footpaths following laying of new ducting along both sides of Harmony Hill and two cross-street trenches was monitored over some weeks in October and November 2012. A 19th-century stone culvert runs down the length of the street. Works on the west side did not require digging into the underlying soil. On the east side a narrow shallow trench, no more than 0.3m deep, was dug for new ducts. There were occasional pieces of modern crockery, glass and shells throughout the the soil. At one point pieces of a 19th-century milk cooling dish were found with oyster shells. At another point, up to eighty fragments of clay pipes, mainly thin shanks and only a few with decoration, were found in dark soil in what appeared to be a pit exposed for a diameter of about 0.8m.

Market Cross, Knappagh Beg and Magheraboy, 169191 335841
Trenching for the two new water mains was through ground close to where the late 16th-century Market Cross stood. Camera examination and personal inspection by some of the workers did not identify any pieces of the monument which, though its position is marked on some of the early OS maps, has not been recognised by any antiquarian or archaeologist.

Market Street, Magheraboy, 169190 335800
The works in Market Street carried out in early 2012 were a continuation of those carried out in 2011 (Excavations 2011, No. 546). The enhancement works here involved laying new ducting under the footpath on the west side and laying of brick paving. There was a hint towards the dating of rubbish pits in that several pieces of broken wine bottles of probably 18th/early 19th-century date were found in the portion of the pit partly excavated outside of No. 27, The Vibe, at chainage 64m in early January 2012. The trenching across the southern end of Market Street for ducting also took place in January 2012 without adding to our archaeological knowledge.

References:
Gallagher, Fióna, 2008: Streets of Sligo, Urban Evolution over the Course of Seven Centuries. Sligo, Gallagher.
Gallagher, Fióna, and Legg, Marie-Louise, 2012: Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 24: Sligo, Dublin, Royal Irish Academy.