County: Galway Site name: Aughnanure Castle, Oughterard
Sites and Monuments Record No.: GA054-002----; GA054-002001- Licence number: E005378; R000570
Author: James Hession
Site type: Castle - tower house and associated bawn
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 515201m, N 741718m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.418759, -9.275705
A programme of archaeological monitoring and test trenching was undertaken at Aughnanure Castle, Oughterard, Co. Galway in association with the replacement of the existing guide’s hut and the installation of a service connection to an existing septic tank.
Archaeological monitoring consisted of the removal of 0.05m of sod/topsoil in the north-west corner of the site in order to facilitate the installation of the foundation pads for the new guide’s hut. No features of archaeological significance were identified during this process.
Four test trenches (1–4) were excavated along the proposed line of the new foul connection. No features of archaeological significance were identified in Test Trenches 1–3, with bedrock identified at approximately 300mm below the current ground level (CGL) within these trenches. A power cable (associated with the existing sewage pump at the septic tank) was identified in Trenches 2 and 3 at 200mm below CGL. The foundation of the inner bawn wall was identified beneath the sod in Test Trench 4.
Metal detection of removed topsoil was carried out under Registration Number R000570. The excavated topsoil was spread out and scanned by a metal detector on an all-metal setting. A bottle screw cap and two 20th-century two-pence coins were identified. No artefacts of archaeological significance were recovered during this exercise and none of the above items were retained.
Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd, Unit 2 Europa Enterprise Park, Midleton,Co. Cork, P25 TV25
