County: Louth Site name: LEMONEIGH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0808
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 718742m, N 811909m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.042669, -6.186954
An archaeological assessment was carried out on the site of a proposed dwelling-house and associated services on lands at Lemoneigh, Carlingford, Co. Louth, on 15 November 2000. The proposed development site includes within its boundaries the site of an earthwork listed in the Archaeological Survey of Co. Louth. The earthwork is most likely a platform-type ringfort, the platform of which still survives.
Eight test-trenches were excavated by machine using a 2m-wide grading bucket within the area of the proposed development. The assessment revealed that no archaeological stratigraphy was present to the south of the monument in the area of the proposed development and services. The sod and topsoil extended to an average depth of 0.23m and directly overlay the orange boulder clay. However, the small deposit of pebbles in Trench 1 probably represents slip material from the platform adjacent to the proposed house. No further archaeological deposits or features were exposed in the trenches, and all the finds recovered from the topsoil were 19th–20th-century in date.
No archaeological stratigraphy was revealed in the area to the south of the monument, and the proposed development will not have an archaeological impact. However, owing to the development’s proximity to the recorded monument, it is recommended that all ground disturbance works be monitored to record any archaeological features that may be exposed.
The location of the proposed dwelling-house at the foot of the platform will have a direct visual impact on the archaeological monument. At a minimum, it is recommended that a buffer zone of at least 10m be placed around the monument. But it is also possible that Dúchas The Heritage Service will request the relocation of the proposed dwelling because of the adverse visual impact.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
