County: Louth Site name: DROGHEDA: Dominick St./Linenhall St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 94E0009
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 708327m, N 775617m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.718970, -6.358721
Archaeological testing by trial trenching was carried out on a proposed commercial development site at the corner of Dominick St. and Linenhall St., Drogheda, on January 27, 1994. The site itself was the location of a forge until about 50 years ago. Two trenches were opened at right angles to each other across the site in order to cover as wide an area as possible. Neither was excavated to subsoil due to water restrictions.
A trench 6.6m x 1m was excavated north-south across the middle of the site to a depth of 2m at which stage rising water restricted further excavation. The most prominent feature in this trench was a well constructed of stone, red brick and mortar which extended from quite near the surface to the bottom of the trench and appeared to continue even deeper. It is apparently post-medieval in date as red brick occurs near its base. The top 1m of soil was disturbed but beneath this a uniform layer of brown soil with orange and white ash deposits was uncovered. It is likely to be associated with the forge and chimney that stood there. An examination of the west face of this trench revealed evidence for boring, as a shaft of brown soil was cut through all of the deposits.
A second trench 4m x 1m was placed at right angles to the first and was excavated to a depth of 1.5m where again rising water prohibited any further excavation. A wall of red brick and mortar was located at the west end of this trench near the surface. The amount of disturbance here varied from 0.4m at the north to 1m at the south. Underneath the wall a pit filled with organic soil, shell and bone was uncovered and was cut by the wall. At the north side of this trench was a 1m deep deposit of brown soil with bone and charcoal interspersed. Deposits of ash were even more obvious in this trench.
Archaeological deposits survive below 1m but no dating evidence was retrieved for any of them. It is likely that the well, at least in its present form, was constructed during the 16th–19th centuries. The orange ash deposits and wall could be associated with the forge which stood here until about 50 years ago. Nothing conclusive can be said about any of the other deposits except that they predate the well and may be medieval in date.
30 Laurence St., Drogheda, Co. Louth
