2015:131 - Taylor's Hill, Galway, Galway

Monitoring of groundworks at a development at the Dominican Convent on Taylor's Hill in Galway City was carried out intermittently between 22 May and 10 December 2015. The development consisted of the demolition of a convent building and the construction of a new one. Monitoring was a condition of planning permission granted by An Bord Pleanala.
Two former recorded monuments (GA094-134001 and GA094-134002) were located within the proposed development area. They are classified as redundant records and consist of 17th-century statues of the Madonna and child, which were located in the existing convent. The statues will be moved to the new building upon its completion.
The location of the new building was an open area to the north-east of the existing one. This was the site of a portion of an original 19th-century convent, demolished prior to the construction of the existing building in 2000.
The groundworks consisted of the excavation of foundations for the new building, associated services and a soakaway located to the south of the new building. The proposed car park and gardens were located at the southern end of the site, on the site of the existing convent building, and were not monitored.
The area of the new building measured 36m north-south by 22m. Below the tarmac and quarried stone on the surface was fill, above topsoil, natural subsoils and bedrock. The fill contained a number of modern service ducts and pipes, concrete, plastic and modern artefacts. Visible within the fill was a wall of the original 19th-century convent building, constructed of mortared rubble and red brick with an associated foundation. All the areas reduced showed evidence of extensive modern disturbance associated with the demolition of the former convent building and the construction of the existing one. Below the disturbed layers was the original topsoil, natural subsoils and bedrock. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered.

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