1998:442 - DROGHEDA: Gleeson's Lounge, West Street, Louth

Archaeological assessment was undertaken at Gleeson's Lounge, Narrow West Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth, in advance of a proposed extension. Three trenches were excavated.

Trench 1 was dug in the south-west corner of the vaulted cellar to establish its antiquity. Under the brick floor a layer of brown loam up to 0.21m thick and containing 19th-century artefacts overlay a layer of mid-brown loam containing a large percentage of shell and 15th/16th-century pottery. The wall of the cellar had been cut into this layer, which continued beneath it. The trench was dug to 6.94m OD.

Trench 2 was excavated in the north-east corner of the building. It was 1.8m north-south by 1m. A concrete floor up to 0.12m thick overlay a dark, sandy clay containing 19th-century pottery and underlay the cellar walls. The layer overlay bedrock that sloped westwards at 7.28m OD. The bedrock had evidently been scarped out for the cellar's construction in the 19th century.

Trench 3 was excavated in the yard at the rear of the premises and was 5.3m long and 1.85m thick. A concrete floor up to 0.12m thick was removed by machine. Underlying this was a cobbled floor made from water-worn limestone up to 0.2m wide and 0.1m deep. This layer sloped upwards from south to north and had been truncated by a modern ceramic watermain. This lay over a layer of compacted, mid-brown clay, which contained red brick and coal inclusions and was up to 0.23m thick. This overlay a thick layer of loose rubble consisting of sandy, mid-brown clay, whole and partial red brick fragments and lumps of mortared limestone and containing sherds of 19th-century pottery.

At the west this layer abutted a north-south-running wall, and at the east an east/west-running wall. The north-south wall was encountered in the north of the trench and was up to six courses high (1.1m). It evidently ran southwards; however, it could not be exposed for the full length of the trench owing to the overhead watermain. It was bonded into the east-west wall at the northern end of the trench. It was composed of roughly squared blocks of limestone bonded with a compact, white mortar, which contained small fragments of coal and red brick. The north-south wall was of similar construction and was intact up to just below the concrete floor of the yard down to 10.08m OD.

A layer of water-worn limestone cobbles extended throughout the trench just above the base of both walls. This overlay a layer of silty, grey-brown clay, which contained red brick fragments as well as manganese mottled ware and tin-glazed earthenware. This layer was up to 0.32m deep and ran under both walls. On removal of this layer a thick deposit of sandy clay and red brick rubble was encountered. A depth of 0.51m of this layer was excavated to 9.46m OD, at which point excavation ceased owing to the proximity of standing buildings.

This building was probably the remains of a cellar that ran southwards to connect with the existing cellars. The north wall of the existing cellar looks like it may have been blocked up in the past.

15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth