County: Monaghan Site name: MONAGHAN: Dawson Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 9:41 Licence number: 03E0705
Author: David J. O'Connor, CRDS Ltd.
Site type: Building
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 667034m, N 833576m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.246637, -6.971457
Test excavation of two trenches using a mechanical digger fitted with a 2m toothless ditching bucket took place in May 2003. Both trenches revealed subsoil 0.4–0.7m below the surface. Archaeological deposits consisted of 18th- and 19th-century garden soils with numerous finds present. These deposits sat directly on natural subsoil.
The building that stood on the site appears to have been the only structure ever present there. It would appear to be an agricultural outbuilding dating to the early 19th century and was in poor condition when examined. The building's northern wall sat on a substantial cut-limestone wall. This wall appears to have been constructed as a retaining wall for the laneway, and not initially for the building. Blackware pottery was recovered from the base of the foundations of this wall, putting its date of construction close to that of the building.
The majority of the finds recovered from the testing date from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Unit 4, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14.
