2013:231 - Cornamucklagh, Louth

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Louth Site name: Cornamucklagh

Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: E4491

Author: Shane Delaney

Site type: Burnt mound activity

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 712281m, N 818785m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.105870, -6.283020

Testing (Stage i) undertaken at Cornamucklagh in advance of the Narrow Water Bridge Project was carried out between 4 and 7 June 2013 and followed on from a geophysical survey undertaken by J.M. Leigh Surveys in 2010 (Leigh, 2010; Licence No. 10R128). The survey identified anomalies of possible archaeological origin within the specified survey areas. Nothing of archaeological significance was identified at any of these geophysical anomalies. A total of 2740 linear metres of trenches were excavated on the southern side of the Newry River.

Three sites of archaeological significance were identified during testing. One large burnt mound and two burnt spreads, which may be the remnants of burnt mounds, were identified. Cornamucklagh 1 was a thin spread of charcoal-rich material and may represent the base of a very disturbed burnt mound. It measured 7.6m x 7.5m and was 0.3m deep. Cornamucklagh 2 was a thin spread of charcoal-rich material and measured 5.6m x 5.7m. It was c. 0.1m deep but a section was excavated into a trough/pit-like feature that measured 0.5m deep. Cornamucklagh 3 was a large spread of heat-shattered stone in a charcoal-rich silt matrix. It was located at the base of the hill and on the edge of the river. A stone wall had been built along the edge of the riverside which appears to have preserved the deposit as it was missing on the river side of the wall and may have been washed away or removed during the construction of the adjacent navigation beacon tower. The deposit of material measured 39m x 16m and was on average 0.3–0.4m deep. A rectangular trough-like pit was identified external to the deposit at the northern end and measured 1.5m x 0.9m x 0.2m. All three sites were later manually excavated in 2013 by Fintan Walsh of IAC Ltd under ministerial direction E4498.

IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow