2025:396 - 7-8 Defender's Row, Townparks, Dundalk, Louth

A trench was excavated along the site. The topsoil was loose, dark brown, clayey silt. The natural was light greenish-brown clay with pockets of grey clay and rounded stones. A high volume of rubble, belonging to the demolished structures depicted on the 25-inch and the last edition 6-inch OS maps, came from the topsoil.
Three walls (C3, C4 & C16) were recorded within the trench. Wall C3, which comprised red brick, was recorded at the southern end of the trench in the south-east corner. At a distance of 4m from the south end of the trench, a stone wall, C4, was recorded at the west side of the trench. It had a 0.85m gap that appeared to be
a doorway. On the northern side of the doorway was another wall, C16, which contained red brick. No other features were recorded in the trench.
Monitoring identified the remains of the entire house with a lean-to shed, C16, at the south-west corner and an auxiliary red brick structure, C3, seen in test trenching, at the northeast. The finds associated with the housetie in with the structure shown on the 1908 map. The wall scars on the surrounding perimeter walls show that the walls to the east tie in with the house and the walls to the west are not associated with the house but belonged to the neighbouring property. The property to the west was depicted as gardens right up until the 1834 map. A building is not depicted on the plot of land to the west until the 1908 map.
Monitoring of the removal of the house walls and foundations was carried out after they were recorded. No archaeological features or deposits were observed or exposed within the trench. No further work isrecommended.