County: Roscommon Site name: Roscommon Urban Realm Improvement Scheme, Ardnanagh, Roscommon Town
Sites and Monuments Record No.: Historic Town (RMP RO039-043) Licence number: 19E0428
Author: Patrick Walsh, Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS)
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 587411m, N 764567m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.630756, -8.190331
Archaeological monitoring took place of groundworks for the Roscommon Public Realm Enhancement Project in the vicinity of Roscommon’s town gatehouse (RO039-043004), which is part of a national monument. Ministerial Consent (C001003) for the work was issued by the National Monuments Service in July 2020. The project’s focus was to further enhance the attractiveness and sustainability of Roscommon town centre. Works were largely centred on Main Street and The Square (Market Square) but also included small sections of adjoining streets. As well as resurfacing pavement and road areas, works also included the relocation and installation of additional utilities and services within the footpath and road carriageways. This required earthworks (generally up to 0.45m within the footpath areas and up to 0.65m in the roadways, with some deeper excavations required of up to 2.2m within the carriageways). Recent investigations within the development area have revealed subsurface masonry remains situated at the southern end of Main Street in the vicinity of a gatehouse site that has possible medieval origins (Coughlin 2021). This is the first possible evidence of remains associated with Roscommon’s town defences uncovered to date (Walsh et. al, 2021).
The area subject to archaeological monitoring comprised the entire scheme length from Goff Street in the south to Market Square in the north (c.325m). The area fell wholly within the Zone of Archaeological Potential for the historic town of Roscommon (RO039-043). The works started in late March 2021 and intermittent monitoring continued into October 2021. During the course of the archaeological monitoring, the extant remains of medieval walls at Main Street and Goff Street were partially exposed, and two wells were also uncovered. The stone walls uncovered at the south of Main Street represent the subsurface remains of medieval town walls. All of these features were preserved in situ.
References:
Coughlin, T. 2021. Unpublished Archaeological Assessment at Roscommon Urban Realm Improvement Scheme, Co Roscommon. Report prepared by IAC.
Walsh, P., Cagney, L., Clutterbuck, R. and Coldrick, B. 2021. Report on Archaeological Monitoring at Goff Street to Athlone Road, Roscommon, Co. Roscommon. Unpublished report prepared by Archaeological Management Solutions. Licence No. 19E0428.
Fahy's Road, Kilrush, Co Clare.
