2023:263 - 48 Dominick Street Lower, Galway City, Galway

A programme of archaeological testing was carried out at a 3-storey (plus attic level) building at 48 Dominick Street Lower, Galway City.  Some internal renovation works had been carried out at the site. The interior of the building is being renovated and reinstated as existing and no works are proposed to the exterior of the building.

The excavation for a foundation pad will be the only subsurface works carried out at the site and is the area of archaeological testing. The installation of this 300mm pad in the floor will be restricted to directly underneath a new wall, which will be 6m in length.

The site is not listed on the RPS or the NIAH, however it is within an ACA and the overall zone of archaeological potential for the historic town of Galway (GA094-100--).

The site faces onto Dominick Street Lower and is bordered to the south by a three-storey structure and to the west by a pitched two-storey dormer building.

Archaeological testing was carried out on 3 November 2023. A single trench was excavated by a backhoe mini-excavator fitted with a 600mm-wide bucket that removed concrete and underlying deposits to the required depth of 300mm and the excavated ground was assessed for the presence of archaeological features. The trench was aligned roughly east-west and measured 6m in length. All machine excavations were continuously supervised.

The stratigraphy encountered consisted of modern floor tiles overlying a mixed rubble fill extending to a depth of 300mm. The rubble fill contained occasional fragments of red and yellow brick, mixed angular rubblestone, sand and clay. Nothing of archaeological significance was observed during the testing.