County: Galway Site name: Ball Alley Lane, Galway
Sites and Monuments Record No.: Within GA094-100---, historic town of Galway Licence number: 24E0396
Author: Declan Moore
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 529945m, N 725355m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.273893, -9.050323
A programme of archaeological monitoring of groundworks to facilitate the excavation and replacement of a previously laid 225mm sewer line was carried out at Ball Alley Lane, Galway City. The works were located within the zone of notification for the historic town of Galway (GA094-100--), just outside the town defences (GA094-100001--).
The works in Ball Alley Lane were carried out in existing carriageway. Most of the trench is oriented north-west/south-east and north-east for the final section towards Eyre Square. The line of the trench runs parallel to the projected line of the city wall and is approximately 3m to the north-east at the closest point and approximately 10m at the southern end of the trench before it turns towards Eyre Square.
The stratigraphy was roughly consistent throughout and was made up of between 150-300mm of tarmac and road gravel overlaying a dark brown sandy silty clay with frequent inclusions of rubble and medium- to-large-sized stones. There were occasional inclusions of red brick. The pre-existing sewage pipe was observed at the base of the trench.
At the southern end of the laneway, at the southernmost corner of the works, a manhole was excavated prior the pipeline turning to the north-east towards Eyre Square. A black peaty deposit (the Galway Black layer) was observed at the base of the manhole trench at a depth of roughly 180mm below the modern ground surface. This material was retained in situ and was not impacted upon.
Nothing further of archaeological significance was noted during monitoring.
3 Gort na Rí, Athenry, Co. Galway
