1998:409 - LIMERICK: Verdant Place/Island Gate, Limerick

This site was tested before development for local authority housing, with an additional area at the northern end where the proposed pumping station for the Main Drainage Scheme will be built. The site lies at the northern end of the Englishtown, just outside the town walls, and is within the zone of archaeological potential as defined by the Urban Archaeological Survey. It is defined on the western side by the River Shannon and by Verdant Place (north-south). To the south is a lane (also called Verdant Place but running east-west) linking the former with Dominick Street. On the east side at the southern end is the continuation of Dominick Street, now called Island View Terrace; at the northern end are the back gardens of Nos 6 and 7. To the north is a row of north-facing structures, now in use as a garage.

Today the site consists of a walled enclosure or paddock to the north-west (A) and a central section that was the site of two cottages, Victoria and Albert (B), with open ground at the southern end (C). Some low perimeter walls are still in situ, but no buildings remain. As the site lies outside the town wall, there is very little written history. There is, however, a considerable amount of information provided by the cartographic evidence. Two adjacent sites were also tested, Verdant Place (E433), and the Orchard site (98E0026).

Town wall
The standing remains of two turrets survive on Verdant Place (north-south). There is evidence that the wall survives behind these. The wall along Verdant Place (east-west) may also be a rebuild, with the original wall surviving south of it (see 1840s plan). At the eastern end it also curves but is of a different build. This was thought to be the remains of another turret/tower. Testing in the Orchard site, on the eastern side of Old Dominick Street, provided evidence that the ditch external to the town wall extended to just north of the kink in the boundary wall opposite the Villiers building.

Island Gate
This presumably stood on the line of Dominick Street, between the two stretches of town wall. All of the cartographic evidence, pre-1800, supports this. The maps show the gate as a square tower, which is in conflict with the curving section of wall on the west side of the street. On the 1840s plan Island Gate is marked to the west of the street and north of the town wall line. The later OS maps do the same with the addition of 'Site of' and a cross pommée. The gate served as access to the northern end of the King's Island, but this was not a main thoroughfare to the hinterland. It was rebuilt in 1685 by Mayor Robert Smyth (Lenihan, A history of Limerick, 210).

The external ditch lay in the Orchard site at the north-western end, where it was c. 3m from the remains of the town wall.

Two property entries in the Civil Survey (1654–6) presumably refer to the areas to the east of the road extending north from Dominick Street and to the east of the Island Road. Judging by both the 1752 and the 1840 OS plans the ground between the road and the riverbank was open.

After 1800 land to the north of the Island Gate was developed following the demolition of the town walls in the 1760s. By 1827 Franklin's Quay was in place, fronting the riverbank. By 1840 there were buildings fronting Franklin's Quay. By 1870 there was a row of eleven houses fronting the east side of the site. The Quay was replaced by two residences: Victoria Cottage to the north and Albert Cottage to the south. These fronted eastwards onto a narrow lane at the rear of the houses mentioned above with gardens onto the riverbank and survived to 1941, but the houses on the street had undergone some change. Verdant Place (north-south) was put in place sometime between 1840 and 1870.

Five cuttings of varying lengths were made across the site. They were 1.2m wide except where collapse occurred and in Cut 5, which was widened to expose the masonry.

Area (A), 'Paddock': Cuts 1/A, 1/B, 2/A and 2/B
This walled area was, presumably, a garden with a layout of thin concrete paths. None of the maps available showed the paths, but neither do they identify any separate structure with which the garden could be associated. It is, therefore, presumed to have been part of the northern cottage (Victoria). The surface was a very soggy, black soil, supporting no growth. In three of the cuttings, 1/A, 2/A and 2/B, was a very similar fill: garden soil, debris and mixed fill, overlying a mixture of brick and stones associated with severe flooding. In all three cases the work was abandoned.

In 1/B, to the east side of the area, was evidence of an accumulation of dumped material that produced a sizeable assemblage of sherds etc., of late 17th/early 18th-century date. This, together with the cartographic evidence, implies that this area was reclaimed somewhat later than that to the south, (B) and (C).

Area (B), Victoria Cottage and Albert Cottage: Cut 3/A–G
No structural evidence of the buildings fronting Franklin Quay survived in the cut; presumably they were destroyed by the construction of the cottages. Of these, two walls were noted: Wall (45) was probably the remains of the west wall, and Wall (53) the remains of the east. The insubstantial Wall (35) is probably one of the garden walls. It is unclear what the brick layer in 3/B and D was. Given that the bricks were not bonded together but just set in the sand, they may have served as an anti-tidal sealing layer.

Below the level of the walls and the various deposits of overburden and debris was an extensive accumulation of dumped material across the cut, in which no structural features were noted. The lowest level of this was superimposed on the original foreshore, identified by sand and gravel deposits and occasional decayed vegetation and mud. This began close to the eastern limit of the site and sloped down towards the west.

Area (C), open area: Cut 4/A-E and Cut 5
No structural remains were identified in Cut 4/A–E. There was a similar accumulation of dumped material and sloping foreshore as identified in Cut 3. At the eastern end, in 4/E, a natural clay was noted, as opposed to sand/gravel and rock.

Judging by the various distinct differences in the dumped material in both Cuts 3 and 4 it appears that the dumping occurred in stages, as it was not a homogeneous layer. There was obviously time for the sand and gravel, presumably by tidal/river action, to become incorporated into the layers and even separate them; some of what appeared to be pure, natural layers of sand and gravel had finds filtered through. It is reasonable to assume that the area west of the access to the Island Gate was gradually reclaimed by using it as a 'town dump' from the mid-17th century, just as the area around St Francis's Abbey was used in the medieval period. By the early 19th century, however, the reclaimed area was built on, with the quay in place.

As structural remains were identified 0.6m below the surface, possibly of the gate or a building associated with it, further work in Cut 5 was deferred until a larger area could be opened up and investigated.

City Hall, Limerick