2014:090 - DUNDALK: Townparks, St. Mary's College, Louth

An assessment was undertaken at the site of a proposed school extension at St Mary’s College, Dundalk. Seven trenches with a total length of 370 linear metres were excavated within the site. Topsoil depth ranged from 0.25-0.45m, subsoil in the area was stiff orange till. No archaeological features were recorded in the course of the assessment. The site was previously reclaimed from Dundalk Bay and numerous drains were noted across the area. The line of a large rectilinear enclosure detected on the geophysical survey corresponds with a feature depicted as ‘old canal’ on early mapping. This was tested in 5 locations and found to comprise a substantial ditch, 4m wide x 1.5m deep. These dimensions might suggest a large drainage feature associated with the reclamation of land from Dundalk Bay. A range of 19th-century artefacts were noted including glass, a bone chess piece, ceramics and red brick. These are associated with the backfilling of the ditch after it had gone out of use.