1992:073 - DUBLIN: Patrick St, Dublin

Between September and November 1992, Arch-Tech Ltd. carried out an excavation on behalf of South Dublin Construction Ltd. on part of their site at Patrick St/Nicholas St. The site had previously been tested (Excavations 1991) and it was in the northernmost of the 3 blocks that the excavation took place. An area 22.5m north-south by 10m east-west was opened with an adjoining cutting to the north 16.3m north-south by 4.5m east-west. This latter cutting crossed the full width of the fosse outside the town wall.

The larger cutting, Area 1, contained archaeological deposits varying in depth from 0.4m to 1m with deeper deposits lying at the northern end. Medieval features uncovered included 2 well-built stone drains. The 1st running from the south-west to the north was 11 .6m in length by 0.4m wide, with an average depth of 0.38m. A smaller drain of similar dimensions, length 3.1m was connected to this drain near its eastern end. The larger drain sloped towards the east, presumably running into the River Poddle, which now flows under Patrick St. The 2nd stone built drain ran east-west with its eastern end being formed by a short north-south channel. This may have run into the fosse originally, however the area immediately north of the drain was truncated by a large stone built cellar which cuts into the natural subsoil. This drain measures 5.2m east-west by 0.25m wide and is c. 0.2m deep. At a later stage a smaller brick culvert was built inside the eastern half of the drain, breaking through its southern side and leading to a sunken timber barrel which may have had an industrial function.

Numerous pits were uncovered of medieval and post-medieval date. Generally the larger pits were medieval, their fills a combination of organic material and silts. The largest pit lying partly outside the excavation area measured 2.88m north- south by 1.94m east-west and was 1.9m deep. Another pit cut the larger of the 2 drains. The fill of this was similar to the other pits with the inclusion of much fragmented wattle. A shallow rectangular pit contained dumps of shattered slate and mortar, and several decorated floor tile fragment. Post-medieval pits and drains were also uncovered as were the remains of at least 6 barrel pits. Some of these may have had an industrial purpose as 3 barrels were connected by lead piping.

The cutting across the fosse revealed it to be 18m wide and 5m deep, the base being c. 8m below present ground level. Both sides of the cut were steeply sloped. The base was flat bottomed and cut into the underlying shattered limestone bedrock. On the northern lip of the fosse a substantial stone wall was exposed. This ran at an angle from east to west and was c. 1.5m thick and it stood to a height of c. 1m. This may represent either a stone facing to the upper part of the fosse cut or a previously unrecorded wall. The style of masonry used was consistent with a 13th/14th-century date. Many of the upper fills of the fosse had been truncated or removed by later cellars. Some timber posts and a barrel could be associated with a possible tannery on the site in the 17th or 18th century. The fills within the fosse consisted of various silt and organic deposits with one substantial stony clay layer occupying the southern half of the fosse. This was probably caused by deliberate backfilling in the 15th or 16th century.

Finds from the excavation included pottery from the 13th-19th century, over 70 fragments of decorated floor tile, leather objects and shoes, metal and a medieval gaming piece.

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