2002:1317 - DROGHEDA: 30 Millmount Terrace, Louth

An assessment was carried out before an extension to the existing dwelling. The site is to the rear of a terraced cottage that faces the Millmount, a motte-and-bailey castle converted into a military barracks. The garden slopes down to the north to a steep drop overlooking Barrack Lane, John Street and the River Boyne beyond. The development consists of a rear extension (2.5m north–south by 5m), and the foundations comprise a concrete raft, necessitating groundworks to a maximum depth of 0.6m. A single trench (2m2) was excavated by hand to that depth, revealing nothing of archaeological significance. The modern patio terrace (0.08m thick) was set on a sandy mortar bed (0.07m thick), which overlay a post-medieval garden-soil horizon (0.32m thick) containing blackware. This covered compact clay with stone and redeposited boulder-clay inclusions, containing Staffordshire slipware and red earthenware of broadly 18th-century date. This layer was exposed to a depth of 0.45m but was not bottomed, as the foundations did not extend below that depth.

Unit 4, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14