County: Louth Site name: TERMONFECKIN: Strand Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0406 ext.
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Ecclesiastical site
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 714066m, N 780456m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.761212, -6.270031
An assessment carried out at Strand Road, Termonfeckin, in December 1998 revealed the presence of archaeological deposits and features on the site of a proposed residential dwelling (Excavations 1998, 153–4). Further work was carried out in March 1999 under an extension to the existing licence. The site is within the suggested outer enclosure of the Early Christian monastery of St Feichin, to the south of the site of the high cross and to the north of a holy well. The site has been under cultivation since the 1840s and probably before.
Twelve trenches were excavated in the area of the proposed development. These indicated the presence of deposits over much of the site. A medieval ploughsoil horizon was evident over much of the middle part of the site, and it was clear that several features cut into the boulder clay occurred below this level. Two pits in Trenches 4 and 8 appeared to represent medieval activity, while linear cuts in Trench 4 indicate the presence of plough furrows also of possible medieval date. Redeposited boulder clay and stone settings evident in Trench 6 were undated but probably form part of structural remains such as those of a house. A deposit of charcoal and oxidised clay was evident below a loam layer containing shell and animal bone in Trench 7. Linear cuts in Trenches 11 and 12 are probably medieval or earlier in date.
Further archaeological excavation and monitoring were recommended for specific areas of the site before further development.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
