2021:146 - Ballygannon, Wicklow

Archaeological monitoring took place for a residential and creche development at Ballygannon, Rathdrum, County Wicklow. The proposed greenfield development site was located immediately north-west of the site of the Union Workhouse at Ballygannon. Due to the location, extent and nature of the proposed development and associated groundworks, there was a possibility that archaeological remains may be discovered.
The Rathdrum Union Workhouse opened its doors in 1842 with accommodation for 600 people. The Great Famine of 1846 was the catalyst that forced thousands of Irish into these grim establishments. By 1850 there were thirteen hundred people in the workhouse in Rathdrum. In order to deal with high mortality rates the Irish Poor Relief Extension Act in 1847 was passed and this enabled Guardians of the workhouse acquire adjacent land to bury the dead as the graveyards were full. These fields became known as the ‘Paupers' Plot’ of ‘Potters' Field’. Given the location of the proposed development site in close proximity to the workhouse this was a concern. One field separates the workhouse and fever hospital from the proposed development site.
A stone wall contemporary with the workhouse and fever hospital did not have any openings to suggest access into the adjoining field which separates the development site from the original workhouse. Today the workhouse and all associated buildings have been demolished and the site is in use as a geriatric hospital. The burial ground associated with the workhouse is, however, located in the townland of Ballygannon, 314m north-east of the development site and is commemorated today by a grotto. The graveyard is accessed by a laneway 460m in approximate length leading from the north-west corner of the workhouse and does not cross the development land.
No finds of features of archaeological significance were uncovered during the course of monitoring.

Unit 10 Riverside Business Centre Tinahely Co. Wicklow