County: Monaghan Site name: CARRICKMACROSS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1008
Author: Margaret McCarthy, Archaeological Services Unit
Site type: Structure and Watercourse
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 684033m, N 803729m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.976000, -6.719000
Monitoring was carried out as part of site investigation works for the proposed Carrickmacross Sewerage Scheme. The proposed sewerage pipeline will be located within the urban district for Carrickmacross town and extends outwards in all directions for a maximum of one mile. The work will involve the construction of c. 21.5km of new and replacement sewers and the upgrading of the existing sewage treatment works on the Ardee Road.
The site investigation phase included drilling boreholes, driving rotary probes and the excavation of slit-trenches and trial holes. Thirty-four slit-trenches were excavated, to an average depth of 1.4m, and 79 trial-pits were excavated, to a maximum depth of 3.5m, except when bedrock was encountered at a high level. Most of the soils identified in the investigation trenches were the product of trench infill following the earlier insertion of water mains, sewers, ESB and Telecom lines. The excavation of a number of slit-trenches within the town indicated that some potential archaeological features are present along the route. The restricted nature of the trenches did not allow for a detailed inspection and full interpretation of the features will not be possible until the main construction phase commences.
The remnant of a stone wall was uncovered underneath a disused water pipe directly opposite the tollhouse at the northern end of the main street. A wall was also exposed in a slit-trench below the main entrance to the St Louis convent. A long slit-trench was opened across the roundabout junction on the bridge and numerous buried services were noted along its length. Two timber planks were exposed at the western side of the trench, 0.28m beneath the road surface. These formed the covering for an old stone-lined culvert measuring 0.78m in width. A stone wall was exposed to the east of the plank-covered drain, 0.17m below the modern road surface. It measured 0.52m in width and on the east side it was excavated to a depth of 1.4m, at which stage alluvial deposits associated with the River Farney were encountered. This wall formed the eastern boundary of the old road leading into Carrickmacross. The wall was demolished when the road was widened and the river rerouted to allow for the construction of the roundabout.
University College Cork
