2001:382 - DUBLIN: 59–64 Great George’s Street South, rear of, Dublin

Excavations have now been completed within the Methodist church and adjoining hall in South Great George’s Street. The excavation located deposits of garden soil, which were evidently accumulating throughout the medieval period, as sherds of medieval pottery as well as 17th-century pottery were found throughout. The fragmented nature of the artefacts suggests that the soil was continually turbated, as suggested by Rocque’s map, dated 1756, which depicts gardens in this area. On the western side of the site the soils had a high silt content and may have originated in the ‘Black pool’ of Dublin, which lies to the west of the site at a lower level.

By the early 17th century the remains of two limestone walls are indicative of some sort of structural activity in the area. Only a small section of the first wall was located, although it appears likely that it represents some sort of boundary wall. It probably dates from between 1600 and 1650 and was quickly replaced by a second wall on almost the same alignment. Unfortunately, only a small section of both walls lay within the excavation cutting and, in both cases, only the foundations survived in situ.

By the mid-18th century the houses fronting onto South Great George’s Street had been built and the area to the rear of the houses was divided into long gardens, which overlooked the site of the pool (which had silted up by the 17th century). Some of the gardens have trees marked, suggesting that they may have been orchards. The remains of a cobbled laneway and several garden walls within the eastern end of the church signalled the large-scale development in the area at this date. Other walls were presumably related to the outbuildings, some of which are depicted by Rocque. These buildings were probably originally domestic buildings, which were badly damaged by later activity. Part of a brick domestic house, dated to the 17th century, lies outside the site on the western side, and there were probably numerous examples, accessed by the long narrow alleyways that lead onto South Great George’s Street.

The next phase of activity within the church was represented by two brick piers, which pre-dated the present church. The piers probably originally supported columns and these, by type, may have been associated with some sort of earlier church building. This was evidently demolished and the entire area infilled with the rubble. Foundation trenches were then excavated through the rubble deposits for the main walls of the church proper. A second deposit of rubble was then laid inside the church and this was evidently also acquired from the demolished buildings. Finds from this deposit included a substantial dump of buttons, as well as the remains of shells from which the buttons were made.

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