County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 15–16 Weavers Square
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0480
Author: Georgina Scally, for ACS Ltd.
Site type: House - 17th/18th century
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 714444m, N 733271m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.337290, -6.281566
Excavation in advance of the construction of a new apartment block was requested owing to the proximity of the development to the site of two protected structures, SMR 18:20(358) and 18:20(359). Both structures are listed as dwelling-sites of ‘Chamber Street Type’, i.e. late 17th/early 18th-century structures, forerunners to the ‘Dutch Billy’-type houses common during this period in the Coombe and Liberties area of Dublin.
Excavation produced the foundations for two houses, both of which had been rebuilt or remodelled during their lifespan. House No. 1 (7m long by more than 4m wide) lay on the southern side of the site. Only the front wall and party wall on the north side were apparent. A stone column composed of well-cut stones standing c. 1m high protruded from the side wall of the house (the side wall lay outside the excavation area). It may have functioned as a support for a fireplace or other feature, but this was not clear. The house appears to have burnt down, as a significant quantity of ash was uncovered at the lowest levels overlying the boulder clay. Pottery sherds of 17th/18th-century date and four 16th/17th-century sherds were recovered from the ash.
When House No. 1 was rebuilt, the ground on the northern side was filled with clay and a second house, House No. 2, was built. Foundations of a large corner fireplace were located in the front room of House No. 2. Pottery recovered from the rubble fill of House No. 2 ranged from 18th- to 19th-century in date. Modern rubble and a concrete floor covered the foundations.
81 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4 and Trinity Street, Drogheda
