County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 23-27 Lr Stephen St
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Rosanne Meenan
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 715725m, N 733626m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.340200, -6.262201
This site lies within the enclosure of St Peter's Church as extrapolated from the present street layout; the medieval hospital of St Stephen lies approx 50m to the south.
Trial trenching was carried out here in advance of wholescale redevelopment and the developer was subsequently obliged to fund excavation of a 12m x 8m cutting. Excavations lasting 3 weeks revealed that boulder clay lies at a maximum depth of 2.8m below present ground level, possibly artificially reduced by the construction of basements. Five pits were exposed which had been cut into the boulder clay. These were of different dimensions but the largest measured 4.7m east- west x 2.96m north-south x 1.9m deep. At the bottom it narrowed considerably and another pit was cut down a further 1.1 m deep with a diameter at the base of 700mm. This pit yielded local medieval pottery and a two-colour square floor tile.
The other pits were considerably smaller. They also produced medieval pottery except for one in which 4 sherds of 16th-century pottery and a piece of textile were found. An environmental sample from this latter pit suggested that household waste was thrown in there but cess-pit type material was absent. The function of the pits is not clear. They did not appear to have been lined or covered. There was no evidence of other medieval activity.
Roestown, Drumree, Co. Meath
