2001:377 - BERTH 51A, Dublin Port, Dublin

Ten test-trenches were excavated on the location of the extension to Berth 51a in Dublin Port. Three layers were identified in the deposit profile established in Trenches 1–9. The depths of the layers varied in the individual trenches and indicated a gently sloping surface in both glacial and post-glacial times; however, the sequence and constituent make-up of the deposits remained constant.

The upper deposits excavated consisted of backfilled material dumped on the old estuary surface in 1970. These deposits were 1–2m deep and were made up of heavy demolished building debris (rubble stone, brick and concrete and fragmentary iron reinforcing). This backfilled material was dumped in the estuary in the 1970s as a solid retaining wall to surround the reclamation scheme for the new ferryport terminal. The building debris lay above the fine estuarine silt that accumulated in the mouth of the Liffey on either side of the old channel leading into the port. The deposits of silt accumulated to a depth of 1–3.8m and overlay glacial gravel at the base of the deposit profile.

Trench 10 was the most southerly trench excavated and recorded the deposits of rubble debris utilised as bund material in the 1970s. The identification of deep deposits of bund material at this location identified the old dredging line associated with the deepening of the port in the late 1960s.

No archaeological deposits or indicators were located in any of the test-trenches. A silt deposit was identified along the area to be dredged, with the exception of Trench 10, where this deposit had been completely removed. The results of the test excavation corroborated the results of earlier geophysical survey.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin