County: Louth Site name: TERMONFECKIN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 22:41 Licence number: 03E0236
Author: Annette Quinn, Archaeological Services Unit
Site type: Structure
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 714218m, N 780328m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.760030, -6.267774
A number of stone structures were uncovered during monitoring of the Termonfeckin/Baltray sewerage scheme in February 2003. The structures were located at the base of a hill, on which Termonfeckin Castle is situated, along the Seapoint Road. A test excavation was subsequently carried out along the pipeline corridor to establish the nature of the structures and how they would be impacted on by the development.
The structures consisted of the foundation courses of a 21m length of wall, at one end of which was the remains of a square tower. Deposits containing 13th-century pottery were uncovered under the wall, which suggests that the latter dates to the 13th century or later. Testing in the area of the tower established that it was built into the upper fill of a substantial defensive ditch. The upper fills of this ditch also contained 13th-century pottery. It is possible that the ditch dates to the 13th century or earlier. Given the location of the ditch, it is possible that it was a defensive feature associated with the raised hill on which the present 16th-century tower-house is situated, or it may have been associated with an earlier castle.
University College Cork
