County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 119–121 Thomas Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 96E0280
Author: Edmond O'Donovan
Site type: Industrial site, Well, House - 17th/18th century and House 19th/20th century
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 714518m, N 733954m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.343408, -6.280209
An archaeological excavation on this site took place between November and December 1996 as part of the site clearance works. The work on site resulted from an initial assessment carried out by Margaret Gowen (Excavations 1995, 22–3) and three phases of archaeological activity were recorded.
Phase 1-medieval
A large number of medieval pits were cut into the natural gravel deposits across the site. The pits were sealed by a spread of medieval clay, with which areas of burning were associated. These features are likely to relate to ‘industrial activity’ outside the town wall, tentatively dated to the thirteenth/fourteenth century. The finds included a substantial quantity of medieval pottery, a ring-brooch, a belt buckle and a decorated leather scabbard.
Phase 2-early post-medieval
A number of post-medieval features were recorded overlying and cut into the medieval features on the site. These included two wells, pits and a deposit of clay. The activity is related to domestic dwellings fronting onto Thomas Street, which was well developed by the early seventeenth century (evidence from Speed’s map of 1610). These archaeological deposits date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Phase 3-late post-medieval
The site was substantially altered in the nineteenth century by the construction of the Blanchardstown Mills and by the alteration and rebuilding of houses and shops fronting onto Thomas Street. This involved a reduction in ground level and the removal of archaeological deposits to varying degrees across the site.
Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd, Rath House, Ferndale Road, Rathmichael, Co. Dublin.
