County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 20–26 Conyngham Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0594
Author: Nóra Bermingham, ADS Ltd.
Site type: House - 19th century
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 713183m, N 734425m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.347926, -6.300075
The proposed construction of two apartment blocks on the site of 20–26 Conyngham Road, Dublin 8, was subject to an archaeological testing condition. The site is on the north bank of the River Liffey, opposite the site of a Viking cemetery discovered on the river's south bank in the mid-1800s.
There were no known areas of archaeological significance on the site, and an examination of 18th- and 19th-century cartographic sources showed that before the construction of a series of domestic dwellings and gardens in the late 19th century the site was an open meadow with light tree cover.
The site covered an area c. 50m x 50m. Six test-trenches were mechanically excavated to natural. The trenches were 4–12m long, 2m wide and 0.9–3.8m deep. Testing revealed a series of dump layers, containing rubble, ash, charcoal, mortar, red brick and sherds of crockery. This material had been deposited to facilitate the construction of a terrace of houses in the late 19th century, only recently demolished before the new development.
There were no indications that the site had been occupied before the late 19th century. It may be that construction of the houses destroyed any evidence for earlier occupation. As nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered, it was recommended that no further archaeological work was required on this site.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
