County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 13 High St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 93E0022
Author: Florence M. Hurley
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 714978m, N 733963m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.343389, -6.273303
Monitoring and limited excavation of a site at 13 High St. took place during February and March 1993. The depth of archaeology on the site had been ascertained in 1989 while the adjoining site to the east had been excavated prior to development (see Excavations 1989, 24 and 1990, 30–31). The small size of the site 21m x 6.75m, and the presence of an adjoining building to the east and Schoolhouse Lane to the west ruled out full excavation.
The profile of the strata revealed in the previous borehole monitoring showed that archaeological levels in the southern part of the site were almost 2m lower than those in the northern half. This was due to the presence of the cellar of the public house that formerly stood on the site. The present development respects these levels. The cellar floor lay directly on top of an organic layer in which the tops of several wooden posts could be seen. Another group of posts had been driven into this layer at a later date, perhaps when the cellar was being constructed. Where the overburden had been removed down to the archaeological level in the northern part of the site, a grey brown sandy clay was exposed, together with a possible hearth.
The installation of a groundbeam and main manhole necessitated excavation of two small areas. The groundbeam trench contained more of the grey brown sandy clay and a layer of mortar and broken slate. The one cubic metre main manhole section revealed several organic and sod layers as well as two stakes. Finds included 14 sherds of medieval pottery of Ham Green, Redcliffe and local types (12th–14th century), three sherds of post-medieval pottery, a bronze pin, animal bone and antler.
8 Marina Park, Victoria Rd., Cork
