The discovery of the remains of an important medieval hall in Galway tells us almost as much about the modern city as it does about its roots. The hall dates from the 13th century and is the oldest building yet excavated in the city. It lies between Quay Street and Flood Street and is clearly identified on a 1651 map of Galway.
The hall is associated with the Norman earl, Richard de Burgo, one of the key figures in the early history of the garrison town.
From here, it can reasonably be surmised, de Burgo and his allies plotted the subjugation of Connacht and Ulster during great banquets washed down with copious quantities of French wine.
The side walls of the building, together with their buttresses, a perfectly preserved cobbled courtyard, two rubbish pits and the remains of three octagonal columns in cut limestone have been carefully excavated in recent weeks.
The two ends of the building remain un-excavated: one lies beneath the Custom House, and the other beneath a multi-storey extension to the Quays pub on Quay Street which was built in recent years.
Thousands of scallop shells litter the site, which also yielded a rich harvest in pottery fragments, copper utensils, and wine flasks from France and Portugal.
The rubbish pits yielded a large quantity of artefacts dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, including clay pipes, glass goblets and wine bottles.
Built of local stone in the 13th century, the side walls of the hall were later supported by five stone buttresses on either side.
The punch dressing on the three octagonal pillars which held up the roof indicate they were a later and more ornate addition, perhaps replacing earlier wooden supports.
The power of the de Burgos gradually declined, as new traders who would become known as the Tribes of Galway grew in wealth and prestige.
Reflecting this shift, the hall fell into ruin and was eventually abandoned in the 15th century.
It was later reused as an iron foundry during the 16th and early 17th centuries. A cruciform trough found on the site is thought to be associated with this phase of the building's history.