County: Meath Site name: Main Street, Dunshaughlin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ME044-033009 (Ecclesiastical Enclosure) Licence number: 17E0587
Author: Jon Stirland, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit
Site type: Non-archaeological
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 696743m, N 752408m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.512742, -6.541382
Test trenching took place within the village of Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. The site of the proposed development is located directly alongside ME044-033009, an ecclesiastical enclosure, which is scheduled for inclusion in the next revision of the Record of Monuments and Places. The street frontage of Main Street associated with the development site contains the standing remains of a Victorian industrial building listed within the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as an industrial building, built c.1880, now disused. This building formed part of an industrial complex in the centre of the town. One building survives, while the remains of two buildings are now in ruins within the site of the proposed development.
Eight test trenches were excavated. Testing identified that the northern section of the site has been subject to high levels of ground disturbance in the past and contains large areas of dumping associated with construction activity; in places the dumped material, which is now overgrown, has a depth of 2m above the original ground level.
The subsurface remains of a possible relatively modern metalled farm track was recorded along with an associated agricultural field boundary ditch that runs parallel to and alongside the farm track.
No archaeological features or deposits were recorded. It is recommended that the proposed development be allowed to proceed without any further archaeological mitigation.
Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth.
