1993:092 - DUBLIN: The Green Building, 23–24 Temple Lane, 3–4 Crow St., Dublin

The site is located in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, north of the river Liffey and in between two former tributaries of the Liffey: the Poddle and the Steine. It is known that Temple Lane was a medieval street which may at one time have given access to the medieval Augustinian Friary of Holy Trinity. Test pits showed the presence of fragments of human bones below the cellars and a fuller excavation was recommended.

The full dimensions of the site in between the two streets were roughly 25m east-west, 12m north-south. Two adjacent areas were opened up for excavation, and their extent was as follows:
Area A:11m east-west x 8m north-south
Area B: 7m east-west x 10m north-south

On the whole, only the bases of the grave cuts for 65 individual burials were found below the floor levels of the 19th-century cellars. These burials were aligned west-east and occasional nails and wood staining of the soil indicated that at least some had been buried in coffins. Although some disturbance had occurred, there was enough pottery evidence to suggest a date range for these burials from the early 13th to the mid-14th century.

In addition to the larger group of skeletons, there was also a large pit or ditch which was found to contain the remains of six skeletons. The ditch was stratigraphically earlier than the larger group of skeletons. Most of the burials were aligned north-south, and several were in a crouched position. There were three adult females and three juveniles, and a fragment of an iron knife blade was found beside the skull of one of them.

The ditch itself measured 5m east-west and 6.7m north-south and was up to 1.7m deep. Pottery from the upper fill above the burials was late 12th to mid-13th century in date. Two samples of human bone have been sent for radiocarbon sampling in Belfast.

32 Rathgar Ave., Dublin 6