County: Louth Site name: CARLINGFORD HARBOUR, Carlingford
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 5:29 Licence number: 00E0649
Author: Finola O’Carroll, Cultural Resource Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Midden
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 719274m, N 811665m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.040350, -6.178930
Test-trenching was carried out on the south quay of Carlingford Harbour, in advance of development. The development will entail the demolition of an existing boatshed and the building of an extension to the quayside measuring approximately 15m2 in extent, which will incorporate a new slipway.
Two sets of three trenches were excavated. Trenching uncovered an elongated shell midden of moderate density on the modern foreshore.
Previous evidence for occupation in the vicinity of the site was in the form of a medieval shell midden, located near the south quay (SMR 5:29). In contrast to that site, no finds were uncovered from the midden uncovered here. It is likely that this feature is entirely natural and is the result of a gradual accumulation of shell at the foreshore, due to alterations in the natural patterns of coastal deposition after the building of the quay wall in the middle of the 20th century.
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