County: Louth Site name: Irish Street, Ardee
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH017–101 Licence number: 05E0566
Author: Aidan O’Connell, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd, 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Site type: Urban, medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 695996m, N 790965m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.859258, -6.540697
An assessment was carried out on the site of a proposed development at Irish Street, Ardee, Co. Louth. Three test-trenches were excavated, two in the rear garden/rear yard and one within the area of the 19th-century building that had recently been demolished to facilitate the proposed development.
Trench 1 revealed that the topsoil lay above the natural orange clay, stone and gravels. Trench 2 was excavated within the rear yard, which had clearly been disturbed and backfilled with clay, stone and modern rubbish. Trench 3 revealed an area of cobbling located directly below c. 0.3–0.4m of rich organic material.
No dating evidence was identified; however, it appears that the cobbled surface may be of medieval date preserved under later deposits. It was recommended that the area of cobbling be subject to further archaeological assessment before the proposed development is allowed to proceed.
