County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: St Luke’s Church, The Coombe
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 18:20 Licence number: 01E0845
Author: Franc Myles, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Graveyard
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 714715m, N 733586m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.340061, -6.277386
St Luke’s was built between 1713 and 1716, supposedly to accommodate the large number of Huguenots who worshipped in the north transept of St Patrick’s (the parish church of St Nicholas Without). The southern part of the parish (outside the walls) formed the new parish of St Luke in 1707. The Huguenot connection does not, however, bear scrutiny when the parish registers are examined. The church was deconsecrated in 1975 and gutted by fire in 1986. Its grounds have been truncated by the Coombe Relief Road to the north and survive untouched (and inaccessible) to the south.
The site is now in the possession of Dublin Corporation and it is proposed to eventually restore the building for community use. The history and architecture of the building are to be the subject of a separate report by this writer. The initial proposed use is as a library and/or exhibition space, with an emphasis on restoring the building to public/community use. As the proposal intends to utilise the building as a single space, support facilities in terms of reception, administration, toilets and storage will have to be accommodated in new structures to be located to the north of the church.
The purpose of the test excavation was therefore to establish the depth of the burials to the north of the church, if any were found to be present. Three test-trenches were hand-dug in this area. A fourth trench was planned for the area to the south of the church. This was abandoned owing to difficulty of access. In any case, this area has been depicted as a graveyard in all of the published maps of the area.
Two of the three trenches measured 1m2 and were excavated to 0.5m. They were located in the area in front of the church: Trench 1 was situated 4.3m from the façade at the western end of the church and Trench 2 was located 9.3m from the façade at the eastern end. The third trench was located against the eastern precinct wall and measured 2m2.
The results of the test excavation show that the level of burials in Trenches 1 and 3 was at 0.5m below the present surface, although an infant burial was recorded at 0.06m in Trench 3. Trench 2, which was excavated through the path leading up to the church, did not produce any human skeletal material.
It would appear likely that the triangular area directly in front of the church (as indicated on the various editions of the Ordnance Survey maps) is free of burials. The situation elsewhere is more uncertain. While the evidence from Trenches 1 and 3 suggests burials at 0.5m, this may not be the case in other areas of the churchyard. Alan Hayden excavated significant amounts of human skeletal material in the very north of the churchyard, in the area impacted upon by the Coombe Relief Road (Excavations 2001, No. 372), and it would seem reasonable to suggest that the density of burials is greater closer to the church.
It was recommended that further testing take place in the triangular area in front of the church to establish whether or not there are more burials in the area.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
