2022:526 - Unit 225/226, Eyre Square Centre, Galway, Galway

Monitoring of groundworks during the development of a site at Units 225 and 226 of the Eyre Square Centre, which is located just south of Eyre Square in Galway City, was carried out between 30 May and 13 June 2022. The monitoring was a condition of the planning permission and was necessary due to the site's location within the constraint for the historic town of Galway (RMP GA094-100) and adjacent to a 17th-century bastion wall.
The development site was located across three floors within existing retail outlets in the Eyre Square Centre, which was constructed in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It was excavated by Gerry Walsh over two seasons in 1987 (Excavation Licence No. E400) and 1989 (Excavation Licence No. E915). The excavation uncovered the medieval town wall with two 14th-century mural towers and a 17th-century diamond-shaped bastion located on the corner of the town wall.
The groundworks were those associated with the excavation of a lift pit and two escalator pits. The area excavated for the lift pit, which was located 25m from the bastion, measured 4.7m north-west/south-east, 4.4m wide and 1.7-1.8m deep. The area excavated for Escalator Pit 1, which was located 16m from the bastion, measured 6.6m north-east/south-west, 3.9m wide and 0.5-1.2m deep, The area excavated for Escalator Pit 2, which was located 8m from the bastion, measured 6.6m north-east/south-west, 3.9m wide and 1.6-1.8m deep.
The stratigraphy in the three areas excavated consisted of a concrete floor above a quarried stone fill, both part of the development of the Eyre Square Centre 30 years ago. Two plastic ducts, uncovered in two of the areas excavated, also dated from the development. Below the quarried fill were modern fills, which contained concrete blocks, steel and Styrofoam. Below the modern fills was mid-dark brown friable silt loam, which would appear to have been the original topsoil at this location. Below this layer were natural subsoils and bedrock. Only modern artefacts were recovered.
A mortared rubble wall (F1) which crossed the south-west side of the area excavated for Escalator Pit 2, directly below a plastic duct, was uncovered. It was orientated north-west/south-east and located 0.2m from the south-west side of the area excavated, at 0.82m below the surface. Only a section of the top and the north-east face of the wall were exposed. The wall (F1) had a footing on its north-east side and was of 1-2 courses. The exposed section measured 1.7m long (at its base), 0.7m wide and 0.6-0.7m high. The footing measured 0.2-0.25m wide and 0.2m high. One red brick fragment was visible in the footing.
Considering the location of the plastic duct directly on top of the wall, it is likely that a section of the uppermost course of the wall was removed to facilitate the insertion of the duct during the development of the Eyre Square Centre 30 years ago. The thickness of the wall, 0.7m, and the presence of a red brick in the footing both pointed to an 18th-century date for the feature.
Due to the location of the escalator within the pit and the work area around it, the wall was safely preserved below the escalator. Following the recording of (F1), it was covered in terram and sand, prior to the installation of the escalator within the pit.