This is the start of the article, " 'To be or not to be...' The Question of Kirwans Lane" in "Archaeology Ireland" for Autumn, 1997 pages 18 and 19. "Kirwans Lane lies in the western quarter of the city of Galway, inconspicuously linking Cross St and Quay St. For many years its derelict buildings testified to the centuries of gradual impoverishment of Galway from the moment the Cromwellian forces entered the city in 1652. The lane is one of its oldest streets and in the years leading up to the city's capitulation to the forces let by Sir Charles Coote, it was the home of the Kirwans, perhaps the wealthiest of all the families in Galway."