2002:0556 - DUBLIN: Mark’s Alley, Dublin

Assessment of the site was undertaken on 23 January and 7 February 2002. Four trenches were excavated using a mechanical excavator equipped with a 1m-wide toothed bucket. Subsoil was encountered at 1.1–1.7m below modern ground level. It was overlain by a deposit of inorganic garden soil of medieval date, up to 0.5m thick. There is no distinct horizon or boundary between the subsoil and the garden soil. The garden soil is dated by the presence of sherds of medieval pottery and the absence of brick and coal fragments. It is low in artefacts. No stratification or features were apparent in the soil. It is probably continuous with the layer of 13th–14th-century soil excavated at No. 97 Francis Street. Similar soils have been excavated at other sites in the area.

A darker layer of post-medieval soil, c. 0.6m thick, overlay the lower soil. This contained sherds of post-medieval pottery, clay-pipe fragments, brick, pan tile and coal fragments. A small coin or token was recovered from this soil at the eastern end of Trench 4. A pit of 17th-century or later date was uncovered. Timbers were present in the pit.

The site was excavated by Alan Hayden (see No. 557, Excavations 2002).

27 Coulson Avenue, Rathgar, Dublin 6