1993:045 - CHAPELIZOD: 14-18 Martin's Row, Dublin

The site of 14-18 Martin’s Row is located in the village of Chapelizod in Dublin and is bounded to the south by Martin’s Row and to the north by the Phoenix Park. The houses on Park Lane form the boundary to the west with the recently refurbished garda station closing off the eastern side. The area proposed for development is roughly rectangular in shape with its long axis running north-east/south-west, measuring some 70m by a maximum of 35m.

At the southern end of the site, the houses, 14-18 Martin’s Row, although roofless and in a very unstable condition, are still standing and take up a third of the available area of the proposed development. Because of this, and the fact that at the present time it is impossible to gain access to the site with a large mechanical digger, this portion of the site remains untested. It was, however, possible to get a small ‘bobcat’ digger on site, and with this, two long trenches and a test pit were machine excavated.

Nothing of archaeological interest was noted in the northern two-thirds of the site. All of the finds recovered date to the late 18th century or later, with the single exception of a sherd of scrafitto ware and even this was not found in a secure context.