County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: Longford Street Little
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0721
Author: Nóra Bermingham, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Town
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 715553m, N 733674m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.340669, -6.264779
The proposed widening of Longford Street Little, Dublin 2, by Dublin Corporation was subject to pre-development archaeological test excavation. The street is located within a zone of archaeological potential for Dublin City, situated within the suburbs of the medieval town, in close proximity to the medieval hospital of St Stephen’s (Mercer’s Hospital) and within the postulated Early Christian enclosure around St Peter’s Church. The first earl of Longford, Francis Aungier, laid out the street in 1677 at the same time as Aungier Street and Cuffe Street.
Since the 18th century both sides of Longford Street Little have been occupied to varying degrees. A college and a pub currently occupy the south side of the street. The north side of the street houses a carpark, built on the site of a former warehouse, which was preceded by a series of 18th- and 19th-century dwellings and public buildings, all of which have since been demolished.
The presence of live services along the line of the street meant that test excavations were restricted to an area of levelled ground situated in front of the carpark, now used for off-road parking.
The work was undertaken in January 2000. Two trenches, orientated east–west, 6m long and 1.2m wide, were mechanically excavated. Excavation revealed 2–2.4m of redbrick rubble and mixed fills lying directly below the modern concrete surface and on top of naturally deposited strata. The fill is likely to be derived from the buildings that formally occupied the site. It is likely that the construction and subsequent demolition of these buildings has destroyed any evidence of earlier occupation of the site. It could not be determined whether the redbrick fill extended along the line of the existing road, as the presence of live services prohibited testing in this area.
Despite the absence of archaeological features in the opened trenches, it was recommended that the development be subject to an archaeological monitoring condition. Longford Street Little is situated at the western end of a link road running between Digges Lane and Mercer Street, which, prior to its construction, was excavated by Cia McConway (Excavations 1996, 23, 96E0006). This excavation uncovered a series of medieval cultivation soils, as well as pits and gullies cut into the natural. Similar deposits may well exist beneath the services currently in situ.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3
