2026:080 - Hill Street, Dundalk, Louth

Archaeological testing was undertaken on the site of a proposed sports and amenity facility off Hill Street in Dundalk. The desk-based assessment was undertaken by Bart Korfanty in May 2024 and recommended archaeological testing.

The site contains one RMP, LH007-089—- Cist. It is described in the RMP as “Discovered during the sinking of a trial pit by the Great Northern Railway in 1879 prior to the building of workshops. The site consisted of a slight hillock (max. H c. 3m). The first burial was found c. 0.6m below the surface while sinking the trial pit. In 1880 it was decided to remove the hillock completely and between fifty and sixty burials were uncovered. They were all orientated NW-SE, were at an average depth of 0.45m below the topsoil, and were laid in regularly shaped stone-lined cists. The bases of the graves appeared to have had a lining of broken crushed stone. Some of the remains were of children. No finds were recovered from the burials. (CLAJ 1952, 251-2)”.

Test excavation undertaken in February 2026 comprised nine trenches measuring a total of 866 linear meters. Topsoil comprised a natural mid-brown silty clay up to 0.25-0.5m deep. Subsoil comprised an orange-brown silty clay with frequent gravel inclusions for the most part. In the waterlogged areas to the south the subsoil changed to a dense grey and yellow clay marl. Nothing of archaeological significance was recorded.

Recorded Monument (LH007-089) Cist, is located within the north-west of the site. Trenches 1, 2, 7 & 8 were placed to investigate the remains of RMP LH007-089. No archaeology was found. It is possible that all traces of archaeology were removed along with the hillock in 1880. It is also a possibility, given the antiquity of the site, that the coordinates were incorrect and it was in fact located further west in the railway yard itself or elsewhere.