2017:839 - 13 Mary Street North, Dundalk, Louth

An archaeological excavation was carried out at No. 13 Mary’s Street North, Dundalk, Co. Louth. It was proposed to carry out an extension to the rear of the existing property, a development exempt from planning permission.
During excavation of a foundation trench, human remains were encountered. This trench had been excavated by hand by the developer and the burial was recorded at a depth of between 0.55m to 0.6m below the current ground level and directly adjacent to the stone-built party wall and underneath the concrete flooring of the old extension. The Irish Antiquities Division of the National Museum of Ireland were informed by Dundalk Garda Station on 7 September, 2017. The Keeper of Irish Antiquities in turn contacted the National Monuments Service to inform of the discovery. The remains, which came to light just after 4pm on 6 September, were disarticulated, and were declared to be of historical significance following a visit to the site by the State Pathologist, Prof. Marie Cassidy, and forensic anthropologist, Dr René Gapert.

Following a site visit from Isabella Mulhall (Assistant Keeper Irish Antiquities Division) and Laureen Buckley (Forensic Anthropologist/Osteoarchaeologist), it was decided that no further groundworks would take place until the National Museum of Ireland/National Monuments Service had put in place a strategy for dealing with the site. The human remains were retained by Laureen Buckley for further analysis. It was subsequently decided that the remainder of the trench would be excavated under the supervision of a licensed archaeologist and if any features/burials were uncovered they would be preserved by record. This was carried out on 2 October 2017.

A section of foundation trench was excavated which measured 1.5m in length and 0.38m in width and to a depth of between 0.55m to 0.6m below the current ground level. No further evidence of human bone was recorded. It was noted that between the depths of 0.55m to 0.6m below the current ground level the deposits appear to be of 18th-19th-century garden soils. An earlier cut of a garden wall foundation trench appeared to run along the northern garden boundary wall at a width of approximately 0.3m to 0.38m. The pottery finds from this deposit suggest an 18th-19th-century date. This suggests that if the burial was retrieved from within these deposits at a depth of 0.55m to 0.6m, the archaeological context of the burial is not medieval but of 18th-19th century-date.

Cartographically the development of Mary Street appears to be between 1836 and 1870. On the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1835 the site of 13 Mary Street North appears to be garden plots/associated with properties located at Seatown Road. From the cartographic evidence and the burial’s archaeological context it appears likely that it might have a date range of between 1836 and 1870.

The skeletal remains have been examined by Laureen Buckley who concluded that the burial was that of a young adult male, with evidence from the dentition suggesting that he probably lived in the 19th century. This was confirmed by the associated Victorian artefacts in the trench.

As no further evidence of burials or artefacts was identified within the cutting of the proposed building foundations, this report concludes that the construction of the proposed extension can continue without any further archaeological assessment.

Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth