2001:387 - DUBLIN: Wolfe Tone Park, Jervis Street, Dublin

Monitoring of ground reduction was carried out for Dublin Corporation in advance of the complete redevelopment of the park. The initial monitoring work was undertaken over a three-week period in March 2001, with the assistance of Peter Kerins. All excavated material remained on site and was piled in the area to the west of the paving, where it is to be landscaped. A small area was excavated to the level of undisturbed burials in the south-eastern corner of the park between 16 and 18 May, in order to facilitate the laying of services. No articulated in situ burials were disturbed.

Wolfe Tone Park was originally a graveyard attached to St Mary’s Church on Mary Street. In 1886 it was redesigned as a garden/park. In the early 1960s it assumed its current layout. The original grave-slabs now line its enclosing walls. St Mary’s Church was designed in 1697 by Sir William Robinson, the architect of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. It was built in 1702 by Thomas Burgh under the direction of the duke of Ormonde. The church has been associated with many famous names. Wolfe Tone, who was born in the adjoining Stafford Street, was baptised in St Mary’s, as were the earl of Charlemont (1728), Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751) and Sean O’Casey (1880). Among those buried in the adjoining graveyard (now Wolfe Tone Park) is Lord Norbury, the ‘Hanging Judge’ of 1798. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached his first Dublin sermon in St Mary’s in 1747. Arthur Guinness, of brewing fame, was married there in 1793. In the 19th century attendance at the church waned as the north side of Dublin became less fashionable. The final burial took place in the cemetery in the 1950s. The Church of Ireland ceased using St Mary’s as a parish church in the 1970s and leased it to the Greek Orthodox community for a short time before selling it to a retailer in 1988.

The topsoil was found on average to be 0.3–0.4m deep (below the pre-development surface) and contained flecks of lime mortar, cement and red brick. The presence of modern glass, clay pipes, coffin nails and pottery was noted. The soil itself was a humic clayey loam and there was significant disturbance owing to recent landscaping activity. Some disarticulated human skeletal material was collected, distributed fairly evenly over the deposit. The topsoil sealed a disturbed deposit of mixed sandy loam with a clay content (F2). The top of this deposit was on average 0.35–0.4m below the pre-development surface. Several finds were recovered from this deposit, including a fragment of a North Devon gravel-tempered ridge tile, a basal angle sherd of a large North Devon gravel-tempered vessel and several fragments of imported stoneware vessels. Clay pipe fragments, glass sherds, coffin nails and ceramic bottle stoppers were also recorded.

This deposit contained considerable quantities of human skeletal material, with a concentration towards the south-eastern corner of the site. The material collected from this area accounted for over 90% of the recovered bone. It is possible that the disturbance caused by the insertion of the pond and flowerbeds at the centre of the park may account for the concentration of redeposited bones in this area. While other bones were scattered randomly and covered with the F2 material, some attempt was made to bury several skulls together in a shallow pit. This was uncovered when Trench 1 was excavated to facilitate the laying of services and the skulls were left in situ.

On reaching the required level, it was found necessary to excavate three interconnecting trenches below the cleared level. It had been previously agreed that any excavation below the formation level of the paving would only be undertaken with the agreement of the appropriate statutory authorities and the City Archaeologist. After consultation it was decided to hand-excavate the required areas to the level of articulated burials and it was found possible thereafter to avoid the skeletons once exposed. The trenches were excavated through burial soil, a humic, compact clayey loam containing flecks of lime mortar, red brick and slate.

Eleven museum boxes of human skeletal material were recovered from the topsoil and the disturbed deposit underneath. At the time of writing, they are undergoing analysis and a report will be issued in due course.

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