Archaeological excavation report, E3790 Drumnacarra Area 10 Site 105, County Louth

Louth County Council, the Roads Service NI (Department for Regional Development) and the National Roads Authority are currently proposing a Road Scheme, the A1/N1 Newry-Dundalk Road. The route consists of 14.2km of 2-lane dual carriageway with 5.7km of associated link roads from Cloghoge roundabout, south of Newry to the Ballymascanlan interchange north of Dundalk. As part of the road development, a number of archaeological and historic sites were within the construction zone of the road scheme and were determined eligible for excavation before the construction began. At this site (105) an area 20 by 20m was stripped down to the stony subsoil to reveal two plough furrows, several shallow pits, perhaps the result of spade cultivation, and a linear feature, perhaps a ditch or possibly the result of mechanical ridging. These features all had a similar fill and some contained sherds of modern pottery. Some burnt areas, noted during the testing phase, proved to be no more than thin spreads of charcoal-rich topsoil.