County: Galway Site name: Athenry
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA084-001, GA084-001006, GA084-001014- Licence number: Ministerial Consent: C001085, Registration Number: E005383
Author: Colum Hardy
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 550335m, N 727899m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.299055, -8.745051
On 28 March 2022, archaeological testing took place in the townland of Athenry, Co. Galway, as part of pre-development works for the proposed Athenry Sewerage Network Upgrade Scheme. The proposed development is partly situated within and surrounding the historic walled town of Athenry (GA084-001). The scheme also traverses the Zone of Notification for two national monuments – Athenry Castle (GA084-001006-; National Monument 406) and the Dominican Priory (GA084-001014-; National Monument 164). As a result, an application for Ministerial Consent for the elements of the Scheme that traverse the Zones of Notification for these monuments was submitted to the relevant authorities. The archaeological testing was subsequently carried out under Ministerial Consent C001085 and Registration Number E005383.
In tandem with the archaeological testing carried out under Ministerial Consent, a limited programme of test trenching totalling 312.5 linear metres was carried out by the author under Licence Number 22E0098 in areas outside of these national monuments for which a separate report was submitted (Hardy 2022). An underwater archaeological wade and metal detection survey was also carried out by Frank Mallon of AMS under licences 22R0045 and 22D0007 and under Ministerial Consent C001085 and R000574/D000029.
The archaeological testing carried out under Ministerial Consent concentrated on a small park south of Athenry castle at the junction of Bridge Street and Court Lane (R347) and designated as an Area of Archaeological Potential (AAP-6) in the Preliminary Cultural Heritage Assessment (Coldrick & Hughes 2021). The archaeological works consisted of a limited programme of test trenching involving two test trenches totalling 26 linear metres. Nothing of archaeological significance was recorded in either of the trenches. A large deposit of loose medium to large stones was identified at the southern end of Trench 16. It was not structural and may be the result of material brought in to raise the level of the park.
The findings of the testing under Ministerial Consent were used to update the overarching Cultural Heritage Assessment for the scheme (Donoghue et al. 2022).
Coldrick, B. 2017. Draft Preliminary Desktop Assessment of the Athenry Sewerage Scheme 2017, Athenry, Co. Galway. Unpublished report prepared by Archaeological Management Solutions for RPS Group. June 2017.
Coldrick, B. & Hughes, J. 2021. Preliminary Cultural Heritage Assessment of the Athenry Sewerage Scheme Network, Athenry Co. Galway. Unpublished report prepared by Archaeological Management Solutions for Irish Water on behalf of RPS Group.
Donoghue, F., Coldrick, B. & Hughes, J. 2022. Cultural Heritage Assessment of the Athenry Sewerage Scheme Network, Athenry Co. Galway. Unpublished report prepared by Archaeological Management Solutions for Irish Water on behalf of RPS Group.
Hardy, C. 2022. Archaeological Testing, Athenry Sewerage Network Upgrade Scheme, Athenry, Co. Galway. Unpublished report prepared by Archaeological Management Solutions for Irish Water on behalf of RPS. Licence Number 22E0098.
Archaeological Management Solutions Ltd., Fahy’s Road, Kilrush, Co. Clare, V15 C780
