2006:1343 - DROGHEDA: Bridge of Peace Carpark, Louth

An assessment was carried out at a local authority carpark facility between Narrow West Street and the River Boyne, Drogheda, Co. Louth. The site is immediately east of the Bridge of Peace and west of the garda station. The excavation is adjacent to a national monument, the medieval town wall. The works were carried out on behalf of the Office of Public Works on 8–11 August 2006.

The purpose of this assessment was to locate the line of the medieval town wall and to locate the presence of any remaining evidence of a mural tower. This tower is located on the south-west corner of the town’s defences along the north bank of the River Boyne and appears on Newcomen’s map of 1657, where the tower is shown to be located on the old river wall.

Four test-trenches were excavated to a depth of c. 3.2–3.5m below current ground level. Within Trenches 1, 3 and 4, reclamation deposits from the 13th to 20th centuries were recorded. These deposits were not recorded within Trench 2, which was located outside of the line of the medieval town wall. The western corner of Trench 2 contained the substantial remains of a stone wall measuring c. 2m wide, with dressed stone blocks and lime mortar and rubble infill; evidence of a slight curve in the wall’s external face suggests that it originally formed part of a circular mural tower. Along the southern limit of Trench 4 the line of the medieval town wall was recorded at a depth of 2.7m below the current ground level; only the internal surface of this wall was exposed and consisted of five courses of unfaced roughly coursed stone.

Significant archaeological remains of the town wall and the remains of a mural tower were identified within Trenches 2–4. The future protection of the town wall and the site of the mural tower should be addressed by the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth