County: Louth Site name: DUNDALK: Castletown Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 7:105 (vicinity of) Licence number: 99E0454
Author: Rob Lynch, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Road - road/trackway
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 703690m, N 808379m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.014202, -6.417877
On 4 August 1999 the remains of a well-constructed cobbled road were exposed and excavated during the construction of Line 1 of the Dundalk Sewerage Scheme, Contract No. 3 (Excavations 1999, 208). It was located c. 10m east of the entrance to Castle Park Estate, at the western end of Castletown Road, Dundalk.
Following a programme of test-trenching, it was apparent that a cobbled road extended eastward for 2km along Castletown Road into the town of Dundalk. Although no dating evidence was recovered, this was in keeping with a map of medieval Dundalk produced by Paul Gosling, which indicated a road extending from Castletown to Dundalk. As the entire length of Castletown Road was to be reconstructed, it was recommended that this cobbled feature be excavated.
Full excavation commenced in January 2000 and continued until March. The excavation strategy involved the uncovering of 100m lengths of the cobbled road on one half of the carriageway at a time. The surface was then cleaned down by hand and fully recorded through photogrammetry, with a 20% sample drawn by hand. A total of 300m of roadway was excavated in this manner. This revealed a well-constructed cobbled surface with a well-defined kerb-line, which was located roughly 0.3m below PGL.
Following the removal of a section of the cobbles, it became apparent that the road dated from the 18th–20th century. Given the length of the feature (2km), it was agreed that the remainder of the road be mechanically excavated under archaeological supervision. Work is ongoing.
8 Dungar Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
