County: Louth Site name: Ballymakenny Road, Yellowbatter, Greenbatter, Drogheda
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 20E0187
Author: Deirdre Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 709507m, N 777247m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.733362, -6.340287
A programme of archaeological test trenching was carried out on a site in the townlands of Yellowbatter and Greenbatter, Drogheda, Co. Louth in July 2020. The testing was informed by geophysical survey (20R0070), undertaken in March 2020 by Deirdre Murphy and Jon Stirland of Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd (ACSU).
A total of forty test trenches were excavated across relevant areas. Each trench measured 1.8m in width and in total 5,309m of linear trenches were excavated. In general, the trenches revealed mid-brown sandy clay topsoil and sod with a combined depth of c. 0.3–0.45m, overlying yellow-brown boulder clay. A number of modern field boundaries filled with brown clay with inclusions of brick and glass were exposed; these corresponded with geophysical anomalies identified (20R0070), and were also depicted on the 3rd Edition OS map of 1907. Within each trench a broken red brick interface was noted between the boulder clay and topsoil, its origin is however unknown. The field was subjected to heavy agricultural activity over the centuries, including heavy ploughing. This would have removed any traces of archaeology in the area if it was present. Excavations to the east of the railway line also exposed very little archaeology, suggesting perhaps it was a blank area in terms of past settlement.
No archaeological features or deposits were exposed or identified and no finds were recovered. The work is now complete.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth.
