1992:066 - DUBLIN: Francis St./Hanover Lane, Dublin

In March 1992 the writer carried out an archaeological assessment on behalf of Dublin Corporation on a site at Francis St and Hanover Lane, Dublin. The site lies within the Zone of Archaeological Interest outlined in the Dublin City Development Plan and although outside the walled medieval town, it may be on the junction of 2 medieval streets. Francis St was probably laid out in the 13th century. Hanover Lane is also of early date; it is present (as 'Lilly's Lane') on de Gomme's map of Dublin of 1673 and may be of medieval origin. Thus it was thought that the site might produce archaeological material derived from medieval suburban settlement along Francis St. The site may also be on or near the location of Dublin's medieval Franciscan Friary which was located on Francis St. Although its precise site is not established with certainty, H.B. Clarke's map of 1978 suggests a location in the vicinity of the present church of St Nicholas of Myra, only c. 35m north of the present site.

The method of assessment was the opening of 5 machine-dug trenches, each approximately 1m wide and between 11 m and 32m in length. Undisturbed natural boulder clay was found to occur at depths of between 1m and 2.4m below present ground surface, where it has not been disturbed by deep foundations for 18th/19th-century buildings. Much of the difference in the levels at which boulder clay occurs seems to be due to differing amounts of overburden and it is likely that boulder clay originally occurred on a relatively level plane over the site. Immediately above boulder clay was a layer of silt loam/silty clay, 0.2m-0.8m in thickness. This layer, which probably covered the entire site originally, contained ceramic material of 13th/14th-century date and is the only possible in situ archaeology found on the site. No evidence of structures or other features was noted either in or under it, and it may represent nothing more that a garden soil or ploughsoil of medieval date. This layer had been removed by later house building along the 2 street frontages.

The most important result of the assessment is the discovery in the medieval layer of floor tile and crested ridge tile fragments which clearly come from a medieval building or buildings of some status. It was also notable that many of the walls of 18th/19th-century buildings on the site were partly or wholly composed of large, often roughly dressed blocks of limestone. The medieval Franciscan Friary is the most likely source of this material and it must have been located close to the site under investigation. The absence of any structural remains suggests that no buildings of the friary were actually located on the present site, but they cannot have been far away and Clarke's suggested location at the Church of St Nicholas of Myra may well prove to be correct. The present site may have formed part of the precinct of the friary.

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