The Port of Drogheda 1790-1850: An Era of Regeneration and Resurgence: Conclusion

Training and Practice for Modern Day Archaeologists

“…The need to provide suitable access and loading/unloading facilities while also trying to grow a port facility is continually challenged by the perpetual processes of siltation and erosion on the one hand, and by the development of ever larger and more deeply drafted vessels which require deeper water to access still larger facilities on the other hand. Drogheda's particular history in this regard is well studied (McHugh 2006 ) . From an archaeological perspective, the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century sources that cast light on the civil engineering works carried out to improve the navigability of the channel to the town inform aspects of Industrial Archaeology.…”

“…It is reputed to have been able to dredge 120 tons of sand per hour from a depth of 5 m. It was the predecessor of a fl eet of steam-powered bucket ladder dredgers that were found at work in virtually every British port by the mid-nineteenth century (Burt 2006 , 105). The purchase of a steam dredger in 1827 by Drogheda Corporation to deepen the river represents the fi rst such dredger to be used in Ireland (McHugh 2006 ) . The dredger was capable of raising c .…”