County: Louth Site name: Temperance Hall, Termonfeckin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH022–041(01–06) Licence number: 06E0899
Author: John O’Connor and Deirdre Malone, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 714276m, N 780606m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.762514, -6.266792
Test excavation was undertaken at the site of a proposed development comprising the construction of residential units, a retail outlet with associated services and a carpark. The site is located in the village of Termonfeckin and at the north-east of the zone of archaeological potential for the town. The site consists of a triangular piece of land that is bounded on all sides by roads. The site is the original location of the old schoolhouse in Termonfeckin, which was recently demolished to make way for the proposed development. On the 1912 edition of the 6-inch OS map, the building is marked as a school, but it was marked on the 1835 map as a Roman Catholic chapel. According to local tradition, at least two priests were interred at the site but were later reinterred in the cemetery of the new church when was it completed in 1883 (Quaile 2001).
Four test-trenches were excavated across the site, revealing nothing of archaeological significance. The demolished building was located on the western side of the site, which was covered by a large spoilheap, causing this portion of the site to be inaccessible for trial-trenching. Therefore, Trenches 1–3 were not fully excavated across this area.
Reference
Quaile, D. 2001 The priests of Termonfeckin parish. In D. Quaile (ed.) Termonfeckin Historical Society review 2001.
