2020:038 - Castlehill, Carlingford, Louth

The test excavation of a site in advance of its development at Castlehill on the north-west outskirts of Carlingford in County Louth was carried out on 6 February 2020. The development consisted of the construction of a dwelling house. The testing was requested as further information by the local authority and was necessary due to the location of the proposed development in the vicinity of the medieval town of Carlingford (LH005-042).
The elevated site, which slopes down from west to east, is situated on the south-west side of Carlingford Lough, at the foot of Carlingford Mountain. The Castlehill road runs along the western boundary with a very steep drop down to the Carlingford-Newry road just beyond the eastern site boundary. King John's Castle (LH005-042002) is visible to the south. Immediately south of the site was a recently completed dwelling, the site of which was the subject of pre-development testing by the writer in July 2016, under Excavation Licence No. 16E0374. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.
The proposed development site had been used to store soil removed from the site to the south and was quite disturbed in places. No features of archaeological significance were visible within or in the immediate vicinity of the site.
The testing consisted of the excavation of three trenches, located to best cover the area of the proposed development. The trenches measured 14m, 65m and 69.8m long; 2-2.3m wide and 0.3-1.4m deep. The pre-development testing revealed evidence of recent activity at the site associated with the construction of the adjacent dwelling i.e. spoil, above topsoil, natural subsoils and bedrock. None of the modern artefacts recovered were retained. Nothing of archaeological significance was in evidence.

4 Lecka Grove, Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, County Mayo