County: Louth Site name: Monascreebe
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH004–019 Licence number: 08E0731
Author: Ian Russell and Jon Stirland, ACS Ltd, Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 704421m, N 813057m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.056076, -6.405121
An assessment took place at Monascreebe, Faughart, Co. Louth, on 17–18 September 2008. The site of the proposed development contains a ringfort site, LH004–019, now levelled. The site also contains a stone-built well enclosed by hawthorn bushes, the general appearance of which suggests it to be an abandoned holy well but which is not listed within the RMP.
Nine test-trenches were excavated within the site of the proposed development. Trenches 3, 7, 6 and 5 were found to contain a large curving ditch measuring 2.1m wide with a depth of 1.34m recorded in a section dug through the ditch within Trench 5. Possible evidence of a levelled bank was recorded as well as two irregular shaped charcoal-rich spreads, one of which contained a metal object or slag that may represent the bottom of a furnace, within the western limit of Trench 2.
The curving ditch is associated with LH004–019 and currently runs directly through the site of the proposed dwelling and its associated garage. The charcoal-rich spreads are located directly along the current route of a proposed driveway at its southern limit.
