County: Galway Site name: Bovinion
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA046-006 Licence number: 20E0370
Author: Richard Crumlish
Site type: Union workhouse
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 567877m, N 745791m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.461196, -8.483726
Monitoring of groundworks at a development at Coláiste an Chreagain in Mountbellew, Co. Galway, was carried out on 29 July and 28 August 2020. The monitoring was a condition of planning permission granted by Galway County Council. The development consisted of the erection of a new single-storey science building with associated site works.
Although the site is not marked on the Record of Monuments and Places for County Galway, the monitoring was necessary as the development site was located within the grounds of a Union Workhouse (GA046-006) and was located adjacent to the workhouse chapel (GA046-007) and graveyard (GA046-005).
The development was located in a lawn and courtyard within the Coláiste an Chreagain campus, south-east of Mountbellew. The Union Workhouse was built c. 1860 and continued in operation until c. 1922. The buildings were occupied for a time during the War of Independence by the Black and Tans and during the Civil War by the Free State Army. It was bought by Galway VEC in 1931 and opened in 1932 as a Vocational School.
The writer had previously monitored the excavation of three engineering trial holes here in May 2019. Only modern artefacts were uncovered. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.
The area reduced for the new building measured 21.5m north-west/south-east by 11.5m and 0.6-1.5m deep. A landscaped lawn, located to the south-west of the new building and which measured 28.5m north-west/south-east by 18m, was stripped of topsoil and reduced by 0.2-0.3m. Two soak pits were excavated, for drainage, to the south-west of the new building within the landscaped lawn area. They measured 4m north-west/south-east by 3-3.5m and 0.9-1m deep. Trenches were also excavated for services and drainage. They measured 0.6-1.3m wide and 0.6-0.9m deep.
Below the topsoil were two small areas of pea-gravel and natural subsoils. A number of felled trees, which had been cut into sections, were found buried within the area reduced for the new building. A stone culvert crossed one of the service trenches. It was constructed of mortared rubble and measured 0.2m wide and 0.2m high internally. The topsoil contained modern artefacts. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.
4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo
