County: Louth Site name: Seafield Road, Haggardstown, Blackrock
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LH012-054002; LH012-054002 Licence number: 21E0846
Author: Deirdre Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 706555m, N 802610m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.961799, -6.376213
Test trenching was carried out at Seafield Road, Haggardstown, Blackrock, Co. Louth. The assessment was carried out at the request of the client to assess the archaeological potential of the site.
The site lies partially within the zone of archaeological potential associated with Souterrain LH012-054002- and ringfort rath LH012-054001-. Both monuments were discovered by Kieran Campbell during test trenching carried out under licence 94E0197. Subsequent monitoring was undertaken under licence 99E0683 which identified a number of archaeological features in the area immediately to the east of the ringfort (Area 8). These features were preserved in situ beneath greenspace as part of the adjacent Rathmount residential development.
Though aerial photography showed the site had been partially stripped of topsoil and used as a temporary site compound, it was decided to conduct archaeological testing in order to determine the presence or absence of archaeological features or deposits.
The testing was carried out using a 14-tonne tracked excavator and a total of 7 test trenches were excavated with each trench measuring 1.8m in width. In total, 269m of linear trenches were excavated, and in general, the trenches revealed dark brown clay topsoil (C1) measuring c. 0.3–0.6m in depth, overlying a natural (C2) orange gravelly clay and bedrock. No archaeological features or deposits were exposed or identified.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth
