2016:439 - O’Connell Street, Wine Street, John Street, Grattan Street, Fish Quay Street & Lower Knox Street, Sligo, Sligo

Fadó Archaeology were commissioned to carry out a programme of archaeological monitoring of the upgrading of the water mains at O’Connell Street, Wine Street, John Street, Grattan Street, Fish Quay Street and Lower Knox Street, Sligo between 5 September and 16 November 2016. The main water mains trench and all other ground works were excavated under archaeological supervision in order to determine whether subsurface archaeological material was present. The trenches were excavated using a mechanical excavator equipped with a graded bucket. The trench on average measured 1.7m in depth and 0.8m wide. The trench was excavated through the existing tarmacadam road surface. The stratigraphy exposed road fill material heavily truncated by service pipes. Trenches were also excavated into footpaths to allow for individual water connections to buildings and sluice valve chambers. Occasionally where necessary the trench was widened or deepened to avoid other service pipes encountered during excavation or to connect with the new water main. The work was conducted at night during the hours of 7pm to 7am. Under these circumstances lighting was poor which impeded archaeological monitoring at times. The weather conditions were good throughout the work with occasional rain but mainly dry.

The pipe laying work began on John Street, extending in a west to east direction towards Grattan Street. The pipe trench was excavated in the centre of O’Connell Street proceeding in a south to north direction approximately half way along the street to the entrance to Tobergal Lane. Work then moved to Wine Street and the trench was excavated in a west to east direction from Wine Street to Lower Knox Street, with a water mains also installed on Fish Quay Street working south-west to north-east. Work then resumed on the remainder of the pipe on O’Connell Street with the trench being excavated north to south from the junction of Wine Street/Lower Knox Street.

A total of approximately 353m of trench was excavated throughout the course of the pipe-laying works. Deposits, artefacts and features of archaeological significance were noted at O’Connell Street, Wine Street, John Street, Fish Quay Street and Lower Knox Street. The most notable was a black humic layer with moderate shell and animal bone inclusions present on O’Connell Street, John Street, Lower Knox Street and Wine Street. Radiocarbon dating of a fragment of mammal bone found on O’Connell Street suggested a broad post- medieval date (CAL AD 1679-1764, 1800-1939) for this black humic layer (Context 4).

A cobbled surface was encountered on O’Connell Street and a well preserved area of cobbling (Context 19) was found at the junction of Wine Street/Fish Quay Street and Lower Knox Street. These areas of cobbling may represent the remains of the former streets of Sligo Town. The cobbles overlay the black humic layer suggesting a possible post-medieval date for these cobbled surfaces.

Evidence of the 19th-century demolition of properties on Wine Street was uncovered in the form of a stone foundation, and associated construction debris, found during monitoring in this area. After the demolition of the Old Bridge and houses at the end of Knox Street in the 1840s the road running from Wine Street to the new Victoria Bridge was much straighter. But Wine Street was considered too narrow and as such was widened between 1857 and 1860 and a flushing sewer was laid along the street, the first street to have a sewer.

North of Wine Street is Quay Street on which the present Town Hall is located and is thought to be the general area for location of the former De Burgo Castle of 1310. No evidence of fortifications or features related to the medieval castle was found on Wine Street during this monitoring.

Amongst the artefacts uncovered was a late 17th/18th-century pipkin vessel, of glazed red earthenware and consisting of a fragment of projecting handle. These small ceramic vessel were used for cooking and may have been used as a type of sauce pot. Amongst the other artefacts of note were two base fragments of wine bottles, which are likely to date to the early 18th century based on similar examples found during excavations on Grattan Street in Cork City (McCutcheon, 2003). The wine bottles were found coincidently on Wine Street where the De Butt wine merchants reputedly had wine vaults; however no trace of these wine vaults were found during monitoring works. A small assemblage of animal bone was found on O’Connell Street and Wine Street which suggested food production in the area. The faunal remains “suggest that primary butchery and carcass processing were taking place in the area of O’Connell Street and, with a juvenile goat horn core being found, these processes were potentially also being carried out in Wine Street” (Beglane, 2017). Amongst the bone was “the presence of cattle, sheep, goat and horse bones and an inference of the presence of dogs in the town are typical of urban assemblages” (Beglane, 2017). The inclusion of the mandible from a young calf suggests that there is some evidence for specialised foods in the assemblage (Beglane, 2017). Another source of food during the post-medieval period in Sligo town was shellfish as evidenced by the occurrences of oyster shells on O’Connell Street, Wine Street and John Street.

The archaeological deposits, features and artefacts indicate a broad post-medieval date for the archaeological evidence uncovered.

References:

Beglane, F., 2017. Report on faunal material from archaeological monitoring of Sligo City Watermains Rehabilitation Works at O’Connell St, Wine St, John St, Lower Knox St, Grattan St and Fish Quay St. Unpublished report.

McCutcheon, C., 2003. Glass bottles and vessels. Cleary, R.M., & Hurley M.F. (Eds.), 2003, Excavations in Cork City.

17 Cooldrumman Upper Carney Co. Sligo