2024:228 - The Uisce Éireann’s (UÉ) Water Network Programmes (WNP), Pearse Street and Pawn Office Lane combined schemes, Ballina, Mayo

The Uisce Éireann’s (UÉ) Water Network Programmes (WNP) Pearse Street and Pawn Office Lane combined schemes are located in Ballina, County Mayo. The Pearse Street scheme involved the installation of c.930m of rehabilitated water mains along the existing streets of Pearse Street, Lower Pearse Street, Dillon Terrace and Humbert Street, whilst the Pawn Office Lane scheme involves the
installation of c.131m of rehabilitated water mains along the existing road. The installation methods used were open-cut trenching (Pearce Street) and slip lining (Pawn Office Lane). The monitoring followed two high-level Cultural Heritage Screening Assessments (CHSA) undertaken for the schemes by Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS) in August 2023. The CHSA for Pearse Street scheme found that its route traverses the Zone of Archaeological Potential for MA030-056001 (bridge) and MA030-056002 (gatehouse/tower) and in close proximity to
the River Moy. The CHSA for Pawn Office Lane found that although the scheme route did not traverse the Zone of Notification (ZoN) for any Recorded Monument, the southeastern section of the scheme is located c.2m from the edge of the ZoN for MA030-074001 (religious house - Augustinian friars), MA030-074002 (building) and MA030-074003 (graveyard) located on the other side of the River Moy.
The CHSAs proposed monitoring as a precaution along the north-eastern-most section of the Pearse Street scheme which entails Dillon Terrace and along the easternmost 50m of the Pawn Lane Office scheme due to potential for archaeological remains to be present at these locations.
Excavation of six trial holes, one slit trench and a section of continuous open-cut trench totalling c.100m along Dillon Terrace for the Pearse Street scheme and several access pits to facilitate the slip lining installation method along Pawn Office Lane were monitored intermittently between 25 April and 15 July 2024. No potential archaeological objects, features, deposits or human remains were found during the monitoring of the Combined Pearse Street and Pawn Office Lane scheme routes. The only feature revealed was a modern stone culvert located along Dillon Terrace most likely built at the same time as the bridge (NIAH 31204105) dating to 1835. It culverts a watercourse/drain shown on the first-edition six-inch (1839) and 25-inch (1898) Ordnance Survey maps and is labelled as ‘Sruffaunbrogue’ on the last-edition six-inch Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1837, published 1930).

AMS Fahy's Road, Kilrush, Co Clare