County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 7A Fownes Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0176
Author: Linzi Simpson, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 715636m, N 734103m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.344503, -6.263362
The site is part of a block (Cecilia Street on the south, Upper Fownes Street on the east, Temple Bar on the north and Temple Lane on the west) which originally formed the precinct of a 13th-century Augustinian friary. Part of the eastern precinct wall, at the southern end, was located at 5–7 Cecilia Street during a previous excavation by the writer (Excavations 1996, 20–1, 96E003). This substantial wall, which was orientated north-south, extended along the eastern line of the block following the line of Upper Fownes Street and apparently extending into the south-east corner of the current site. Part of a second building, probably the mansion called the 'Crow's Nest', built c. 1600, is also thought to extend into the site.
Previous assessments concluded that the land to the immediate north of the friary, and therefore encompassing at least the northern part of the current site, appears to have been actively reclaimed from the 1600s onwards. This was subsequently confirmed during archaeological monitoring works to the rear (south) of the Temple Bar Pub (15–16 Temple Lane), where deep layers of organic refuse were encountered sitting over natural riverine deposits.
The assessment did not locate the remains of any internal friary or later walls; however, the extreme south-east corner (where the precinct wall appears to enter the site) could not be tested owing to the presence of a building. This assessment is to take place following demolition of existing buildings.
Rath House, Ferndale Road, Rathmichael, Co. Dublin
