County: Louth Site name: Big Street, Termonfeckin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH022–041 Licence number: 08E0786
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd, 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Site type: Pits, ditch
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 714130m, N 780461m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.761243, -6.269059
An assessment was carried out at the site of a proposed development at Big Street, Termonfeckin, Co. Louth. The site is located within the zone of archaeological potential established around the village of Termonfeckin (LH022–041), a shrunken medieval town. This site was assessed by means of test-trenching.
A total of four trenches were excavated with a mechanical excavator on 13 October 2008. Two large pit features were exposed in Trenches 1 and 2 at the northern end of the site and an east–west ditch was exposed near the south end of Trench 2. All three features were cut into the orange/brown boulder clay which was exposed at a depth of 0.8–1.1m, and are likely to have been associated with the ecclesiastical site. The ditch exposed measured 2m in width and extended eastwards in line with the north side of the graveyard. It may represent an early enclosure or vallum around the monastic site but could also be a later feature. It was filled with a brown loam containing charcoal. The features are all located below the garden and a proposed new driveway and will not be impacted on as a result of their depth. No other features of archaeological significance were identified and no finds were recovered.
