County: Louth Site name: MULLAGHARLIN AND HAGGARDSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 7:95 Licence number: 98E0440 ext.
Author: Audrey Gahan, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 705017m, N 803900m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.973700, -6.399196
Archaeological testing of the proposed Xerox Industrial Park was carried out by Dermot Moore (No. 468, Excavations 1998). Further testing was carried out by this writer, under an extension of the original licence, in the vicinity of a horseshoe-shaped enclosure.
Three trenches were excavated, to the north, east and west of the monument, extending from the ditch edge, to ensure that no archaeological remains existed within a proposed 10m buffer zone around the site. The trenches were mechanically excavated by a digger fitted with a toothless bucket and on average measured 2m x 20m.
A small area of charcoal-stained soil lay within the northern trench, c. 6m from the monument. It lay directly above subsoil. This was not investigated further as it lies within the buffer zone. All of the trenches were excavated to subsoil, but no further evidence of archaeological material was identified.
Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ
