County: Louth Site name: ARDEE: Barrett’s Lane
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH017–101 Licence number: 06E0110
Author: Antoine Giacometti, Arch-Tech Ltd.
Site type: Town
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 696030m, N 790524m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.855291, -6.540325
Monitoring took place at a small development site on the north side of Barrett’s Lane, 55m west of Castle Street, which is within the zone of archaeological potential for Ardee. This followed from an assessment and test-trenching report on the site which suggested the presence of archaeological material.
Two ditches oriented at right angles to each other were identified and were partially excavated, and partially preserved in situ. They are likely to be contemporary and date to the 14th to 15th centuries based on the recovery of a single late medieval pottery sherd. During this period, this part of Ardee appears to have been undeveloped (according to the 1677 map) and may have still been in fields despite its location within the town defences. The features are unlikely to represent drainage along the line of Barrett’s Lane, as one of the ditches runs under the road. Instead, they probably represent agricultural field boundaries or drainage features. The upper part of the ditches was situated 0.6m below the level of the pavement on Barrett’s Lane, and natural subsoil was reached at a level of 1m below the pavement.
Three 18th-century features represented small-scale industrial and/or construction activity taking place between c. 1715 and 1766, prior to the construction of the masonry building, which was demolished in 2007. One of these comprised a lime deposit, which may indicate the presence of a lime mixing pit or limekiln which has since been badly disturbed. The earliest phase of building on the site, which appears on the 1766 map, was associated with a rough cobbled surface, suggesting that it was a shed, warehouse or enclosed yard.
32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2
