County: Dublin Site name: KILMAINHAM: 7 Rowserstown Lane (Site adjoining)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0124
Author: Georgina Scally
Site type: Industrial site
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 712931m, N 733718m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.341630, -6.304110
The site adjoining No. 7 Rowserstown Lane, Kilmainham, lies along the River Camac between the old medieval village of Kilmainham to the south and the medieval priory and the 17th-century Royal Hospital to the north. Phase 1 of the test excavation was carried out in March 1998, Phase 2 will be carried out subject to demolition of No. 7 Rowserstown Lane and the granting of planning permission for the proposed development.
The site measured 15m east-west x 7m north- south max. Three trenches, 6.5–4.5m long and 2–1.3m wide, were excavated by hand. The earliest features uncovered were a stone-lined flue and firebox, together with deposits of clinker or slag, of probable late 18th/early 19th-century date. A cobbled surface contemporary with the flue was also identified. These features were probably associated with the remains of some sort of localised industrial activity on the site, possibly a forge. The remains of mid- to late 19th-century cottage foundations sealed this activity; the cottages were demolished in the 1960s.
At the eastern end of the site, a stone wall stands c. 3.6m high. This wall is part of the rear wall of one of the 19th-century buildings situated on high ground, north of the development site, fronting onto Kilmainham Lane.
c/o 81 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4
