1994:087 - DUBLIN: Werburgh St., Dublin

Excavation was undertaken over a ten-week period from March 14 to May 20, 1994. An area measuring a maximum of 17.5m north-south by 15m east-west was excavated. Only the northern third of the site was excavated completely to subsoil. In other areas a number of trenches were cut through the earliest surviving features to subsoil. The planning permission required the site to be excavated to only half the depth of surviving deposits.

A depth of 3.1m of well-stratified material survived at the northern third of the site, while less than 0.8m of archaeology survived at the south-eastern corner of the site.

Defences
The earliest feature uncovered consisted of a bank that crossed the south end of the site. Only c. 5m of its width occurred in the excavated area. It ran completely across the site, surviving to a height of c. 0.9m. To the south of the site it was truncated by later cellars. The bank was not fully removed and 1–1.5m wide sections were cut through it revealing the presence of palisade trenches beneath it. While no definitive dating material was retrieved from the bank it probably dates to the early part of the 10th century as it is clearly part of the same structure that was uncovered at Ross Rd. (Excavations 1993, 16–7).

A trench was excavated by mechanical excavator across the area of the former Corbett's Pub to try to locate the pre-Norman town wall. The builders of the cellar beneath the pub had removed all deposits to below the level of subsoil. The wall, as suggested previously by the writer, probably lies further south close to the line of the Anglo-Norman town wall at this part of the town. The wall was later located by Margaret Gowen on the line of the Anglo-Norman town wall about 20m to the south of the excavated site.

Buildings
Parts of nine separate properties occurred in the site. The complete or partial remains of approximately 30 buildings dating from the mid-10th to later 11th centuries were excavated. Up to eight superimposed houses, and a level of iron working furnaces occurred in one property.

Where classifiable, the buildings were in all but five cases classic Type 1 Hiberno-Viking houses. The five other buildings consisted of two Type 3 houses, two small circular huts (Type 5) and a sunken floored structure.

The latter is of particular interest because of the general rarity of the type in Dublin, in contrast to Waterford, Limerick and other Viking towns such as York. It dated to the early 11th century and post-dated other houses in its vicinity.

The buildings survived to varying degrees from only the primary floor level to up to 0.6m in height.

Individual buildings had up to five levels of floors and rebuilding of hearths. The latter, with two stone-lined exceptions, were clay- or wood-lined, which is not typical of Dublin houses in general.

The buildings occurred in small rectangular plots often not much larger than the actual house. The Type 5 huts occurred squeezed into the corner of one plot where the main house was set diagonally in the plot. Small laneways paved with stones or gravel or lined with timbers, screens and brushwood occurred between the plots and leading from the doors of houses to the edge of the plot.

This layout is most closely paralleled by the areas excavated by O'Riordain at Christchurch Place and shows a much greater density of houses and population than revealed, for example, at Fishamble St.

A range of crafts were being carried out in the houses; woollens and textiles, leather-, iron-, bone-, antler-, amber- and wood-working were all evidenced by finds utilised in and waste from these activities.

A widespread early 11th-century conflagration was evidenced by the burnt remains of all the surviving structures at one level. This could possibly tie in with the defeat of the Dublin Vikings at Clontarf.

In the succeeding level one property was used for iron-working; two iron furnaces and two wood-lined pits filled with charcoal occurred.

A complete sampling of occupation deposits and all timber was undertaken.

Finds
Approximately 750 small finds were recovered. A good range of Hiberno-Viking objects are represented. Among the most notable finds was a hoard of 125 later 10th-century Anglo-Saxon silver pennies of similar type to those found at nearby Castle St. Other interesting finds included a number of mid 10th-century ships-timbers (one of which is the first definitely decorated ship-timber from Dublin), a large leather bottle and wood and bone objects decorated with animal heads.

15 St Brigid's Rd. Upr., Drumcondra, Dublin 9