Book Description

This book presents the results of 79 licensed investigations conducted over twelve years on sites associated with the historical town walls and fortifications and at locations both within and outside the walls of Galway. It is laid out in ten parts, consisting of the background to the project, contributors' reports on licensed archaeological excavations, surveys, monitoring and trial-trenching, and specialist reports on the finds and human, faunal and environmental remains. Several notable structures were identified and recorded during the city excavations, including the thirteenth/fourteenth-century de Burgo castle and hall, 400m of town wall, four mural towers and part of the Cromwellian citadel. Fifteen specialist reports analyse c. 28,000 stratified finds covering the period from the twelfth century to the twentieth century, with the bulk of the material dating to c. 1550-c. 1800.Finds include pottery, glass, clay pipes, bone and stone objects, coins and tokens, architectural fragments, ridge and floor tiles, metal and gold objects, leather and textiles, gaming marbles and cannon and musket shot, all of which provide important insights into the material culture and external contacts of the townspeople. Eight reports on human and faunal and environmental remains follow, revealing interesting aspects of the urban diet and economy. An overview of the archaeology uncovered during the investigations is also presented in a series of discussions by the editors, on the town walls and fortifications, the buildings and architecture and the finds. This publication is the result of a vast collaborative effort, and the large volume of data presented will serve as a rich source of information for the scholar and the general public alike.