County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 89–93 Capel Street/16, 17, 21 and 22 Green Street/195–196 North King Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0300
Author: Claire Walsh
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 715170m, N 734758m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.350487, -6.270132
Test excavation of this development site was undertaken on 25–26 June 1998. The site lies at the northern end of Capel Street. All standing buildings on the site had been demolished before testing; however, the adjacent buildings at Nos 88 and 95 Capel Street were propped with shoring that intruded onto the site and were in a precarious state. Consequently, the test excavations avoided the immediate vicinity of these buildings. Temporary builders' accommodation, site cabins etc., currently occupies most of the Capel Street frontage; as this area was extensively cellared it was not deemed necessary to move the cabins and to dig in this area.
Throughout the medieval period the area that is now Capel Street was part of the lands of St Mary's Abbey, founded in 1139. The site of the abbey buildings lies some distance south of the present development site, and the present development lies outside the extent of the former abbey precinct as illustrated on Speed (1610). To date, except for a localised area at the junction of Green Street and North King Street uncovered in test excavation by Frank Ryan in 1993 (Excavations 1993, 24, 93E0104), no areas of medieval stratigraphy have been uncovered at the northern end of Capel Street.
In the late 17th century Capel Street was developed and became a 'fashionable residential area'.
All trenches were excavated by mechanical excavator. There were no deposits of archaeological interest. The underlying topography indicated a slope from north to south. A localised area to the south of the development site had a 0.6m-thick deposit of agricultural soil of post-medieval date remaining, and elsewhere all soils were removed by building foundations and deep cellars of red brick construction. These foundations are those of the small buildings illustrated on Rocque and the OS maps and are of buildings similar to those standing on 88 and 95 Capel Street.
25a Eaton Square, Terenure, Dublin 6W
