County: Louth Site name: ARDEE: Townparks
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH017-101001 Licence number: 03E1045
Author: Tara O’Neill and Aidan O’Connell, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Town defences
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 695661m, N 790360m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.853886, -6.545982
An assessment was carried out on the site of a proposed mixed residential and commercial development at Ash Walk, Ardee, Co. Louth. The site is occupied by a supermarket, a surface carpark and a former cattle mart, at the west of the historic town of Ardee. A 17th-century earthen embankment, SMR 17:101(05), runs in a north–south direction through the site. This separates the cattle mart from the surface carpark. Eight trenches were excavated in the course of the assessment. Three were excavated across the earthen embankment, two within the carpark and three in the cattle mart.
Trenches 1–3 were excavated across the earthen embankment. The western face of the medieval town wall was exposed at the eastern end of both trenches. It consisted of a drystone wall and two foundation levels. The initial foundation level consisted of a layer of redeposited boulder clay extending 1.3m east–west by 0.14m deep. This was overlain by a layer of rounded cobbles (on average 60mm in diameter) extending 1.2m westwards from the base of the wall, by 0.2m deep. Medieval green-glazed pottery was recovered from this level. The wall was constructed from randomly coursed, roughly hewn limestone blocks, with dimensions ranging from 0.2m by 0.35m to 0.1m by 50mm. It was aligned north–south and stood to a maximum height of 1.2m. Only the western face of this wall was recorded in the course of the assessment.
A second medieval wall was recorded c. 4m west of the town wall, also in Trenches 1 and 3. This was roughly aligned north–south. It was constructed from roughly hewn limestone blocks, roughly faced on the eastern and western sides. The wall stood to three to four courses high and had a rubble core, but no mortar or other bonding was evident. A sherd of medieval green-glazed pottery was collected from the rubble core of the wall. This structure represents one phase of medieval town wall construction within the town of Ardee.
A third north–south-orientated wall was located less than 0.3m west of the town wall in Trench 3. This wall was also composed of dry stone, with three to four courses. It measured 0.8m in width and reached a height of 0.6m.
There were no masonry structures recorded in Trench 2.
The medieval walls were overlain by the earthen bank, which survived to c. 2m high.
Trenches 4–5 were excavated through the surface carpark at the west of the town wall and earthen embankment. No archaeological remains were recorded.
Trenches 6–8 were located in the cattle mart at the east of the town wall. No archaeological remains were recorded in Trenches 6 and 7. A number of archaeological features were recorded in the northern area of Trench 8, including two pits and two ditches. The finds from these features were typically domestic and reveal evidence for medieval settlement within the immediate area. The disturbed nature of the former cattle mart, which previously functioned as a slaughterhouse, has probably resulted in the destruction of archaeological deposits since the early 20th century.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
