1996:123 - BON SECOURS HOSPITAL, Glasnevin, Dublin

Archaeological trial excavation took place in November 1996 in the grounds of Bon Secours Hospital, St David’s Terrace, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, prior to development. The site is within the former enclosure of an early medieval monastic settlement (CDP 3:16). The roughly circular boundary of this enclosure can be clearly seen on the east side of the OS 6” map, sheet 18, and on John Roques’s 1756 map. The original monastic church was almost certainly in the position of the present Church of Ireland church on the north side of the site.

The early medieval ecclesiastical settlement at Glasnevin has extremely early beginnings, as it was founded by St Mobhi (d. 545) presumably in the first half of the sixth century. According to The Life of St Columba, it was here that St Columba of Derry and lona studied, as a disciple of St Mobhi. In later medieval times, from 1306, the lands of Glasnevin, together with the church, appear as the property of the Priory of the Holy Trinity under the archbishop of Dublin, until the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century. This century there have been a number of burial finds of early medieval date from the area formerly within the monastic enclosure.

From the archaeological assessment, it appeared that the ground in this area had been disturbed by post-medieval activity to the level of natural subsoil at 1.2–1.4m on the north end of the site and 2.2–2.6m on the south end. All the information strongly indicated that there was no archaeological stratigraphy in this area and that the development was very unlikely to have any impact on the archaeology of the site.

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