County: Armagh Site name: A1 Scheme 1, Newry, Lisdrumliska/ Carnagat – Site 18
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/08/10
Author: Warren Bailie and Ros Ó Maoldúin, for ADS Ltd, Unit 6, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DE.
Site type: Burnt mound/fulacht fiadh
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 706978m, N 826056m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.172312, -6.361492
This site was uncovered during topsoil monitoring in advance of the construction of a new bypass around Newry, Co. Down/Armagh (A1 road improvement scheme, Beech Hill, Co. Down, to Cloghogue, Co. Armagh). Site 18 was located in the townlands of Lisdrumliska and Carnagat, Co. Armagh. It extended for 1km across undulating ground between Chainages 8600 and 9600 and traversed both low-lying wet and relatively high dry lands.
There are three SMR sites within Lisdrumliska, a rath (Watson’s fort), a holy well and one feature only visible as a topographical feature or cropmark in aerial photos. There are five SMR sites within Carnagat townland, of which four are identifiable only in aerial photographs and the last is a standing stone, none of which will be affected by the proposed road scheme works.
This site comprised sixteen areas of potential archaeological remains that were noted and fenced off during monitoring. Upon excavation, only five of these (Areas 2, 13, 14, 15 and 16) were shown to contain genuine archaeological remains. Area 2 contained one pit with a charcoal-rich fill. Area 13 contained a spread of burnt-mound material and two underlying pits. Area 14 contained a pit, a stake-hole and a linear ditch from which a piece of prehistoric pottery was recovered. Area 15 contained a linear ditch, three pits and two charcoal-rich spreads. Area 16 contained two stake-holes and a pit located next to a probable palaeochannel.
