County: Galway Site name: Abbeygormican Church and Graveyard
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA107-002001--- Licence number: E005251 Ext.; Ministerial Consent No. C1017
Author: Declan Moore
Site type: Church
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 576697m, N 718303m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.214631, -8.348891
Phase 3 of an archaeological monitoring programme was undertaken at Abbeygormican Ecclesiastical Site, which is in the ownership of Galway County Council (SMR: GA107-002--). The works were carried out in September and October 2022.
The Phase 3 conservation works involved removing overgrowth from the south nave wall exposing the weathered structure and following consultation with the National Monuments Service agreeing and implementing a series of interventions to stabilize and conserve the exposed wall and structural features. To address the condition of the south nave wall, the contractor used a lime grout to areas of voids and poor stonework, following pinning and pointing of the external and internal faces thereby consolidating the stonework in situ.
The author intermittently inspected the works. On-site works began in late September 2022 and continued until the first week of October 2022. Generally, the works involved erecting scaffolding around the south nave wall ensuring that monuments and burials were not disturbed and setting aside architectural fragments for safekeeping (one worked stone was recovered from the top of the wall). In advance of the consolidation and stabilisation works a gridded photogrammetric survey was undertaken by Impact GIS using a drone to record in 3D the exposed original fabric. A photographic record was taken to document the course of the works.
To allow consolidation work to proceed loose masonry was removed and the stones re-bedded. The exposed brown/yellow mortar bond was friable where exposed but retained some integrity within the wall core.
At the central part of the south-facing section of the wall seasonal ivy growth had resulted in collapse at the base. This area required a robust raking out with hand tools prior to rough racking and the insertion of supporting stones.
The cut stone was carefully removed from the top of the wall and laid out on top of the cleaned-down western half of the waist-high nave wall.
The works did not involve any sub-surface work or excavation of original ground.
3 Gort na Rí, Athenry, Co. Galway
