2018:696 - Castle Street Car Park, Gorteendrunagh, Castlebar, Mayo

Pre-development testing was carried out on the site of a proposed extension to the Castlebar Social Services building at Castle Street Car Park, Castlebar on 24 April 2018. The proposed development consists of a three-storey extension to the existing building, a late 19th-century National School which is the sole surviving component of the former St. Angela’s Convent of Mercy complex. The development site comprises a small plot of waste ground, formerly a garden, adjoining the old school building. The north-east part of the plot has a concrete surface while the south-west part is in grass. The site is located within the area of archaeological constraint for MA078-003 (Historic Town).
Two test trenches (lenght 10-12m running north-east/south-west) were opened across the site revealing 0.7m of garden soil over light yellow/brown sandy clay and grey clayey silt subsoil. A stone culvert (0.45m x 0.3m) extended north-east/south-west across the north-west part of the site. The culvert walls were of mortared rubble masonry and it was capped with large limestone slabs, with clay sealing the gaps. The feature is undoubtedly associated with the school and former convent buildings, and dates from the late 19th or early 20th century. Finds from the garden soil deposit consisted of frequent 19th/20th-century pottery sherds and glass fragments including a few intact bottles and jars, and a small ceramic inkwell. No archaeology was found.

Dominic Delany & Associates, Creganna, Oranmore, Co. Galway