County: Louth Site name: DROGHEDA: 23/24 Laurence Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0173
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Building
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 709072m, N 775289m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.715870, -6.347557
An assessment of a proposed commercial development at Laurence Street, Drogheda, was carried out in April 1999. The site is at the east end of Laurence Street, just inside the medieval town wall, close to the barbican of St Laurence's Gate.
Four trenches were excavated by hand inside the existing basements of two buildings. A single layer of medieval garden soil was exposed at a depth of 0.2m below the surface in the easternmost basement. As the proposed development involved only the replacement of basement floors, it was established that there would not be any impact on the archaeology.
To the east of the basement of No. 24 Laurence Street and directly below the present-day Palace Street a stone undercroft or cellar with a very shallow, barrel-vaulted roof was discovered. The walls were constructed of stone averaging 0.3m in size and were bonded with mortar that had a very high gravel content. The cellar had maximum dimensions of 4m east-west by 2.96m and an internal height of 2.7m. A window or ope was evident in the west and south walls of the structure and was most likely medieval in date. As the cellar underlies a public street and is outside the area of the development, it will not be interfered with in any way.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
