County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 35 Meath Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0195
Author: Hilary Opie
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 714644m, N 733643m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.340588, -6.278431
Pre-development test-trenching was carried out at 35 Meath Street, Dublin 8, on 21 and 23 June 2000. The site lay on the corner of Meath Street and Grey Street and occupied an area measuring 19.5m east–west by 6.5–7m. This was surrounded by hoarding, making access and manoeuvrability difficult, and hence only a small, 3-tonne ‘bobcat’ machine could be used. Initially it was intended to dig a trench running east–west at the western end of the site. However, the machine hit an active sewer, and this end of the site had to be abandoned.
A second trench was attempted at the eastern end of the site. A cellar wall, running east–west, was hit, and a trench measuring 2.3m long (north–south) x 1.5m wide and 2m deep was all that could be excavated. This was filled entirely with modern rubble. A flagged limestone floor was observed at the base of the trench, but the machine was not powerful enough, and did not have enough reach, to remove this.
A third trench was excavated in the centre of the site. This was 4.5m long (north–south), 2m wide and 3m deep. Stratigraphy consisted of subsoil at a depth of 2.75m. This was mottled grey-green boulder clay and was tested to 0.25m. Overlying this was a thin band of fine, grey/black silt, c. 0.1–0.15m thick. Overlying this was modern rubble, filling the whole trench. This was up to 2.6m deep. A vertically cut, square-sided extrusion of subsoil was noted in the east-facing section of the trench. This survived to a height of c. 0.3–0.4m under the current ground surface.
No archaeological finds or features were noted in any of the trenches.
103 Cherrywood Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
