2026:245 - Carrickbaggot, Grangebellew, Louth

Test excavations were carried out at Carrickbaggot, Grangebellew, Co. Louth. The site lies c. 1.8km southeast of the village of Grangebellew within the southern portion of the townland of Carrickbaggot. It comprises of the northern portions of two fields, divided by a field boundary through the centre. The site is surrounded on all sides by fields except for the eastern boundary of the eastern field which is adjacent to the Dublin-Belfast railway line.

The site contains no monuments as listed in the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) or Sites and Monuments Record (SMR). The nearest monuments include a Ritual site – holy well (LH018-047—) located c. 490m to the northwest, and a Church and Graveyard (LH018-046001-; LH-018-046002-) located c. 640m to the north-northwest of the site, all within the townland of Carrickbaggot. A Ringfort – rath and Souterrain (LH021-016001-; LH021-016002-) are located c.677m to the southwest in the neighbouring townland of Brittas, and an Enclosure (LH021-017—) is located c.616m to the southeast of the site in the neighbouring townland of Baggotstown.

Prior to archaeological testing, a geophysical survey was conducted by Donald Murphy, Robert Breen and Jeanne Rochford of Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd. (ACSU) under licence 26R0449. No definitive archaeological features were identified but a number of potential spread/pit remains of archaeological significance were noted throughout the survey area.

Archaeological testing was carried out in which a total of 5 test trenches were excavated down to natural or the surface of archaeological remains. The trenches were excavated to target the footprint of the development and encompass results from the geophysical survey. Topsoil depth averaged c. 0.4m throughout the site with some variation found, particularly at the east end of Trench 4. The natural was an orange-brown boulder clay. Features of archaeological significance were identified in Trench 5a and offset Trench 5b. C5.1-C5.5 were a series of pits and spreads containing an abundance of charcoal and heat-affected stone, typical of Bronze Age burnt mounds (fulacht fiadh). However, no mound or spread covering the entire area was found.