County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: Mercer's Hospital, Digges Lane
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Alan Hayden
Site type: Church, Hospital and Graveyard
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 715625m, N 733826m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.342018, -6.263628
The proposed development on the site occupied an L-shaped area measuring a maximum of 24m by 33m. The site lies immediately to the south of the area excavated by the writer in 1991 (see Excavations 1991). The excavation of that site unearthed the remains of St Stephen's Church and the graveyard associated with it and the medieval Leper Hospital that was situated on the site. After the dissolution of the church and closure of the hospital the site continued in use as a graveyard until the 18th century.
Three test trenches were opened by mechanical excavator and 3 rest bores were examined between 4-6th March 1992.
They showed that the graveyard occupied only the northern end of the site and that in all c.1.8m of archaeological deposits survived. Over the rest of the site medieval archaeological deposits also survived but consisted of garden soils and late-post medieval deposits.
The site was subsequently excavated by another archaeologist as the writer could not undertake the work due to other commitments (see no. 58 1992).The work was commissioned and funded by the developers.
15 St Brigid's Rd Upr., Drumcondra, Dublin 9
