1996:109 - DUBLIN: 72–74 Queen Street, Dublin

Archaeological monitoring of subsurface development work at 72–74 Queen Street, Dublin 7, was conducted on 20–22 March 1996 on behalf of Archaeological Development Services Ltd.

The demolition of the premises at 72–74 Queen Street revealed the presence of basements along the line of Queen Street and Hendrick Street. The foundation walls for these basements lay directly on the natural gravel. Demolition of the western boundary wall of the site revealed that it had used an earlier wall as a foundation. This earlier wall was of roughly coursed, roughly dressed, mortared limestone construction and was of north-south orientation. It survived to a maximum height of 2.3m and measured 0.6m in width at its upper level. A sherd of Staffordshire slipware was recovered from an ash spread beneath the wall, providing a late seventeenth-century date for its construction.

This wall pre-dates the construction of the demolished houses on the site. The basement walls of these houses were constructed of mortared gravel stones and boulders, which were probably quarried in the vicinity. Rocque’s map of Dublin in 1756 notes that the eastern extent of present-day Benburb Street was formerly known as ‘Gravel Walk’, which is directly to the south of the site. This map also indicates the line of the exposed wall, which was to the rear of buildings fronting onto Queen Street.

The exposed section of this wall was not threatened by the proposed development.

146 lveragh Rd, Whitehall, Dublin 9