County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 78–89 Francis Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 95E058ext.
Author: Alan Hayden, Archaeological Projects Ltd.
Site type: Kiln
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 714934m, N 733576m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.339924, -6.274100
Two boreholes, monitored on the site by the writer in 1995 (Excavations 1995, 19–20), suggested that modern scarping had removed all earlier deposits from the southern end of the site.
Nine trenches were excavated by mechanical excavator on 3 November 1997. As suspected, these revealed that the majority of the site had been cleared to subsoil in the 19th or 20th century. However, at the rear of Nos 86–89, a depth of 1m of medieval cultivated soils survived. A large pit containing waste from clay pipe manufacture also survived at the rear of No. 85 and wooden water pipes and a cut of post-medieval date survived at the front of Nos 86–87.
Excavation of the post-medieval and modern pits and monitoring of the mechanical stripping of the medieval cultivated soils was undertaken between 26 November and 2 December 1997.
The medieval cultivated soils were removed in spits approximately 100–115mm thick. After the removal of each spit the area was hand-cleaned and then surveyed with a metal-detector (on the instructions of the National Museum). This revealed only one short and shallow cut and a small number of sherds of pottery, a medieval coin, a couple of copper-alloy objects and pieces of waste lead.
The large pit containing clay pipe refuse at the rear of No. 85 measured up to 2.6m in depth and 2–2.5m across and was excavated by hand. It was originally wood-lined but had been relined in brick. A large number of fragments of clay pipe stems and bowls, as well as fragments of saggars and other kiln furniture, and early 19th-century pottery were uncovered. There is no record of the use of the site for clay pipe manufacture but the stamps on the pipes were all of clay pipe makers (MacLoughlin and Cunningham) known to have been working further up Francis Street, whose workshops and kilns were excavated by Claire Walsh (see No. 132, Excavations 1997).
A small pit containing the refuse from late 17th-century clay pipe manufacture was excavated at the front of No. 87 Francis Street. The finds included fragments of muffle, and this is the first definite evidence for clay pipe manufacture on Francis Street at this date.
Funding was provided by the developers.
25a Eaton Square, Terenure, Dublin 6W
