File 1 - Cellar in St. Augustine Street, 1987

14 items

Materials pertaining to an early-to-mid-19th century underground grainstore found during construction at the corner of Buttermilk Walk and St. Augustine Street in Galway city centre in mid-July 1987. Workmen at the Buttermilk Walk development broke through what they saw to be the roof of an underground chamber and informed their superiors of the discovery. the construction firm, O'Malley Construction Ltd., then informed Galway City Corporation. Markus Casey and a photographer were sent to investigate and document the cellar. Despite reaching what Casey saw as an agreement to preserve the cellar, seven weeks later workmen demolished the roof and filled in the cellar, rendering it inaccessible.
Includes:
-4 colour photographs and 1 black-and-white photograph, all with captions by Casey, depicting the interior of the cellar;
-Maps showing the location of the cellar in St. Augustine Street and a rendering of the cellar (5pp);
-Paper by Casey, 'The Cellar in St. Augustine Street', detailing how the cellar was rediscovered, its appearance, its construction, its likely origin and function, and proposals for preserving the cellar within the new development (2pp);
-Handwritten draft of the above paper (4pp);
-Handdrawn sketch of the cellar and its dimensions on foolscap (1p);
-Handwritten report by Casey on the destruction of the roof of the cellar by construction workers and the subsequent filling of the cellar with rubble (2pp).

Open

Catalog

06/08/2024
26/06/2025