1997:102 - DUBLIN: 'The Auld Dubliner', 17 Anglesea Street, Dublin

The 'Auld Dubliner' licensed premises is located at the junction formed by Anglesea Street and Temple Bar. It consists of a three-storey over basement building, the facades of which are listed within the Temple Bar Conservation Area. Planning permission for internal modifications and extension to the basement was granted subject to a number of conditions, one of which stated that all subsurface groundworks should be carried out under the supervision of an archaeologist. This work was undertaken from 6 to 15 February.

The general area of the site consists of land that was reclaimed from the flood-plain of the Liffey from the mid-16th to the late 17th century.

Prior to the commencement of the archaeological component of the project, the entire internal area of the building, including the roof, was gutted and much of the ground-floor slab was removed. All the reductions in levels beneath the basement floor slab, the excavation of foundations for new internal structural walls, and excavations beneath the southern and western structural boundary for underpinning purposes were monitored. This work was carried out in tandem with the remaining demolition works on the site, which included the removal of the remainder of the ground-floor slab, the internal walls of the basement and the basement floor.

Two distinct layers of archaeological interest were uncovered during the course of this work, the uppermost of which consisted of a moderately loose dark brown silty sand (Layer 1). The nature of this layer, which ranged in thickness from 260mm to 520mm, indicated that it had been deliberately introduced to the site to level up the area. Below this was a moderately compact black sticky/greasy silt with a high organic content (Layer 2). This layer included oyster and mussel shells, animal bone and cattle horn-cores, and it ranged in thickness from 280mm to 600mm. It lay directly upon weathered bedrock. The nature of the development meant the entire removal of Layer 1 within the confines of the site and that Layer 2 was truncated by both the internal foundations, services and underpinning works. A layer of geotextile material (Terram 3000) was then laid down across the site, sealing the exposed surfaces of Layer 2.

Layer 1 contained a large amount of clay pipe fragments and pottery. Similar material was recovered from the surface of Layer 2. In all, 302 pipe stems and 91 bowls were recovered, an examination of which indicated that they date from the late 17th/early 18th century. Furthermore, 298 sherds of post-medieval pottery were recovered, mostly from Layer 1. The assemblage comprises a number of types, including Bellarmine, Sgraffito and North Devon wares.

39 Kerdiff Park, Monread, Naas, Co. Kildare