County: Louth Site name: N52 Ardee Bypass, Counties Louth and Meath
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 12E0374
Author: Ross MacLeod with Patricia Long
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 681873m, N 789239m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.846165, -6.755810
Stage (i) Test Excavation and Survey Services and Stage (ii) Pre-Excavation Services associated with the N52 Ardee Bypass were carried on behalf of Louth County Council.
As part of Stage (i)a standard test excavation and Stage (i)c test excavations in wetland a total of 238 test trenches were excavated across 32 fields, comprising a total of 11,592.42 linear metres of trenching. Two areas of archaeological interest–Ballygowan 1 and Boharnamoe 1–were identified during testing.
Stage (i)f involved the survey of one townland boundary along the length of the route.
Stage (i)k works involving the removal of topsoil near a known or suspected monument were also carried out on this scheme under 12E0373 (see below No. 414). Test trenching in Area 10.1 was also included in this licence.
Stage (ii) Pre-Excavation Services (additional trenching, cleaning and mapping of the area of archaeological interest identified during Stage (i)a and c test trenching) were carried out during the same period. Stage (ii) Services confirmed the presence of burnt mounds at Ballygowan 1 and Boharnamoe 1. The proposed road would have a direct profound impact on the archaeological features identified during Stage (i) and (ii) work. It is recommended that both sites should be fully excavated in advance of any construction works on the scheme.
Rubicon Heritage Service Ltd, Unit 2, Europa Enterprise Park, Midleton, Cork.
