County: Louth Site name: DUNDALK–NEWRY LINK ROAD
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0314
Author: Miriam Carroll, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: Souterrain
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 707284m, N 812209m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.047869, -6.361725
Monitoring of Phase 2 of site investigations for the proposed Newry–Dundalk Link Road was undertaken over several months in mid- to late 2002. The investigations consisted of the excavation of trial boreholes and a series of test-pits along the route of the proposed road to establish the nature of the local geology. A total of 46 engineering test-pits were excavated along the route within the Republic of Ireland.
A possible souterrain was uncovered in one test-pit in the townland of Aghnaskeagh, Co. Louth. It consisted of a band of light brown, silty clay that extended east–west across the trench. A large, flat stone was uncovered at the east end of the feature, and a cavity was visible beneath the stone. The feature measured c. 0.8m (north–south) and was exposed for a length of 1.42m. It may represent part of a previously unrecorded souterrain. The test-pit was subsequently backfilled, and no further excavation took place in this area. No archaeological finds or features were uncovered in the remaining 45 test-pits.
Department of Archaeology, University College Cork
