1997:141 - DUBLIN: Little Britain Street, Dublin

The site is located at the junction of Little Britain Street and Campbell's Court, within the zone of archaeological interest, being in the vicinity of both St Mary's Church and the 17th-century Capel Street house of Speaker Connolly. Assessment was carried out prior to a residential development.

Four trenches were excavated, three of which cut through a 0.8m depth of stone hard-core and infilled basements. These trenches were stopped at depths of between 1.46m and 2m below ground level. One trench, running east-west along the northern edge of the site, uncovered natural gravels at 1.05m below ground level, and running along the northern baulk in section was a drystone wall, two courses high. Mortar adhered to the roughly dressed stones but did not appear to bond them. The wall overlay a black greasy clay which contained mortar fragments and red brick.

It was decided to excavate around the wall as it may have been of late 17th-century date. Historical documents refer to a wall in the vicinity, built by Lady Landsborough in the 1680s, enclosing Speaker Connolly's house. A trench measuring 6.68m east-west by 3m north-south was opened. As excavated, a portion of wall 6.14m long and 0.33–0.95m high was uncovered. A corner was identified at the western edge and a short portion of wall running northwards into the northern baulk was also recorded. A later red brick east-west wall had partially removed this northern wall. The east-west wall had been extensively robbed out along the eastern edge of the trench and stopped just short of this edge.

On average the east-west wall was 0.47m wide, though it widened to 0.66m along the western half and a basal laminated black slate course measured 0.82m in width along the mostly robbed-out eastern edge. As recorded during assessment, the wall was of a random coursed drystone construction. Mortar adhered to the undressed stones but did not bond them, though a compact grey clay with mortar flecking sealed the gaps between the stone. A few broken red bricks were found within the make-up of the wall along the upper level, and complete red bricks were found in the lower levels in the northern face at the western edge. Although the wall was generally constructed from undressed stone, one large squared stone was found along the western edge in the south-facing elevation. It was noted that in general the south-facing elevation was neater and better constructed than the north-facing side.

The wall immediately overlay a fairly shallow series of broken red brick and red brick-flecked clays, though the western corner of the wall overlay a large post-medieval pit.

There was a slight suggestion of a foundation trench along the north-facing elevation, infilled with a purple/brown, slightly brittle clay with red brick, mortar and charcoal inclusions.

Excavation has indicated that the wall is unlikely to have been the wall referred to in the 1680s historical documents.

Two pieces of pottery were removed from the body of the wall. These have been identified as a sherd of moulded creamware and a shelled-edged pearlware with copper green hue, both probably Staffordshire and dating from the 18th/19th century.

The stonework, inclusion of red brick and the pottery all indicate that the wall is not a 17th-century construction and, allowing for a plausible time-frame to elapse for the common usage of red brick, it is more likely to date from the end of the 18th/early 19th century. However, given its location, it is possible that this wall was built along the line of the earlier 17th-century wall.

Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3