2019:536 - Drogheda Garda Station (PEMS Store), Drogheda, Louth

A programme of archaeological test trenching was carried out in the townland of Moneymore at Drogheda Garda Station (PEMS Store), Drogheda, Co. Louth. The site is located partially on the footprint of the site of the Abbey and Hospital of St. Mary d’Urso (LH024-04011-). The site is also within the Area of Special Archaeological Interest (AR12) as defined by Louth County Development Plan 2015-2021. Testing was carried under a Section 14 Ministerial Consent C000952, in compliance with conditions set down by the National Monuments Service in relation to the Part 9 notification from the Office of Public Works regarding the proposed development. The site is located within the north-east corner of the existing Garda Station site to the north of the River Boyne and Fr Connolly Way. The site's northern extent is defined by Old Abbey Lane, and the eastern side by Patrickswell Lane.

The proposed development site is part of an area that was previously subjected to a significant amount of excavation. Archaeological work has previously been carried out on the site by Eoin Halpin in 1989 and Donald Murphy in 1995, and as a result of these investigations, almost the entire layout of the abbey buildings are known.

The testing was very limited due to constraints including existing buildings, stores and underground services and concentrated on the perimeter in order to determine the state of the foundations below the existing boundary walls. A borehole was also excavated under archaeological supervision within the area previously excavated.
Testing took place in September 2019 using a 3-tonne tracked excavator. A metal detector was used (R000513) to maximise the identification and retrieval of objects; however, no metal finds were recovered. One borehole and a total of three test trenches were excavated across the relevant areas. In total 10m of linear trenches were excavated. In general, the trenches revealed a tarmac surface to a depth of 0.1m, and modern hardcore to a depth of 0.1-1.8m. Only Trench 1 produced possible undisturbed archaeological stratigraphy, either medieval or post-medieval in date at a depth of 1m just west of Halpin's 1989 excavation area. A baulk from the 1989 excavations was noted in Trench 2, however it contained sherds of 18th/19th-century pottery (which is consistent with the results for the upper layers from the 1989 excavations). What appeared to be natural bedrock was exposed in Trench 1 at a depth of 2m; it was not feasible to reach the underlying natural/bedrock in Trenches 2 and 3, due to a continually collapsing trench (the result of made-up ground/modern backfill).

The proposed development will be constructed on piles supporting ground beams and a raft foundation. The impact on potential archaeological deposits is limited to the west side beyond Halpin's 1989 excavation area where a lift shaft will penetrate the possible garden soils. Elsewhere the building will be entirely constructed within Halpin's excavation area and there will be no impact.

Along the east side of the site a medieval ditch had been discovered during the 1989 excavations running north-south along the west side of Patrickswell Lane. This ditch was rock-cut and wasn’t fully excavated at the time due to excessive depths and the potential to undermine the adjacent upstanding wall. There will be no impact on this ditch from the ground-beams or raft foundation but it will be impacted at four locations by the piles. Archaeological monitoring of these four pile locations should be sufficient to mitigate this impact.
In order to fully mitigate the impact on the archaeological deposits from the proposed development it is recommended, that archaeological monitoring during any ground disturbance in relation to the proposed development, including piling, should take place followed by full excavation in the event that archaeological deposits are exposed.

Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit, Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth