County: Louth Site name: Farrandreg, Dundalk
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH007-034-- Licence number: 18E0269
Author: Liam Coen c/o Archer Heritage Planning
Site type: Souterrain
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 703300m, N 807932m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.010264, -6.423990
The purpose of the test-excavation was to locate the exact extent of a souterrain LH007-034--, so as to inform the layout of a proposed housing development. The souterrain, first identified in 1980 with a report produced by Paul Gosling of the National Monument Services, was subject to a test excavation (Lynch 1999) to inform the route of a pipeline for a drainage scheme. The original route of the pipeline along the eastern boundary of the field was rerouted to curve around the site of the souterrain to the west.
The present excavation removed the topsoil over the souterrain to plot the full extent of the monument using ITM co-ordinates. Subsoil consisted of loose orange and light brown stony sandy clay with the presence of large glacial boulders. Topsoil was 0.25-0.3m deep across the site with an orangey-brown stony, sandy clay plough-zone below this evident. An irregularly shaped area with maximum dimensions of 25m east-west x 25m was topsoil stripped. This was sufficient to identify the extent of the souterrain cut. The souterrain cut was visible 0.3m below the surface at the top of the slope with an increasing depth of overlying material, up to 0.6m at the base of the slope. The central chamber extended for c. 25m east-south-east/west-north-west while a cross-chamber in the central portion extended for c. 15m north-south. The westernmost cross-chamber, first identified in 1980, appears to be orientated north-west/south-east and extends for c. 10m. Contrary to the speculation of the 1999 test-excavation, no cross-chamber exists along the eastern portion of the central chamber. The width of the cut for the souterrain varies from 1.9-2.3m.
The souterrain has been accurately recorded and the development proposal allows for the preservation in situ of this structure under green space.
Reference:
Lynch, R. 1999 ‘Archaeological Test excavation Farrandreg, Co. Louth, Licence no. 99E0624’. Unpublished report prepared by IAC Ltd. on behalf of Dundalk Urban District Council.
Archer Heritage Planning, 8 Beat Centre, Stephenstown, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
