1999:206 - DUBLIN: 6–10 Hanbury Lane/Swan Alley, Dublin

Excavation took place over three weeks in February 1999 on a large development site on the eastern border of the abbey of St Thomas the Martyr, founded in 1177. The site had been previously tested (Excavations 1998, 50). The current excavation was suspended by Dúchas when it was discovered that the site had been used as a cemetery in the 13th century.

A short length of clay-bonded walling, dated to the 14th century, was uncovered towards the western site boundary. A well-laid cobbled surface, representing a yard level or a pathway, lay to the west of the wall. The wall, though slight, may be the eastern precinct wall of the abbey. Excavation concentrated on the north-eastern part of the site, where an extensive layer of grey soil dating to the late medieval period was removed. This soil contained numerous floor tiles, which derived from a floor-tile kiln that probably lies at the northern part of the centre of the site. A small pit, filled with floor tiles, wasters and fired clay impressed with tiles, which is part of the kiln furniture, was excavated. The tiles parallel the in situ pavements of the abbey church at Meath Market, South Earl Street (Excavations 1997, 53–4, 96E0357), and two-colour, line-impressed tiles and line-impressed mosaic, with many variants and new types, are present.

The level of production of the tiles cut through several burials, and it appears that the entire area to the east of the abbey precinct had been used as a graveyard in the 13th century. Seventeen burials were excavated, and many more graves were noted. The burials are all in simple, earth-cut graves. The low density of burials may indicate the use of this ground on the edges of the abbey as an informal burial-ground for a short time. The formal graveyard of the monks is likely to lie to the west of the site at Hanbury Lane, where graves, as yet unexcavated but defined by stones and markers, have been noted.

25A Eaton Square, Terenure, Dublin 6W