2026:254 - Old Church Street, Athenry, Galway

The proposed development comprises an infill development of four 3-bedroom semi-detached houses on land to the rear of the old pharmacy, now the west of the River Gallery, Old Church Street, Athenry, Co. Galway.

Athenry is a well-preserved medieval town which was founded in the 13th century. Standing monuments of the medieval period include the nearly complete circuit of town walls, including towers and gates, the castle and the Dominican Friary. The development site is located within the ‘zone of notification’ for the historic town of Athenry. The closest archaeological monument to the site is the town wall of Athenry (GA084-001001—) which borders the north-western end of the subject site.

The author excavated 5 test trenches on 16 and 17 August 2026 in generally bright but showery conditions. The trenches were excavated by a mini backhoe excavator fitted with a 1.5m wide bucket that removed topsoil and sod to natural subsoil, and the excavated ground was assessed for the presence of archaeological features. All upcast material was inspected visually and surveyed by metal detector.

The stratigraphy encountered was consistent throughout the site and comprised a brown clayey silt topsoil with occasional small stone inclusions overlying a mixed deposit of modern rubble and general refuse material with occasional inclusions of animal bone and scrap metal. The underlying undisturbed natural subsoil was a greyish-yellow and brown mottled stony boulder clay, located at a consistent depth of between 450mm and 500mm, which overlay a white, dauby boulder clay. The metal detector survey was undertaken using a Minelab Vanquish 540 Multi-IQ detector device. The spoil was also subject to a visual search along with survey by metal detection. All the detector hits proved to be of modern provenance and included tin cans, batteries, scrap metal and general modern refuse. Nothing of archaeological significance was recovered.