2003:0585 - DUBLIN: 25–28 Strand Street Great, Dublin

Test excavation of a development site at 25–28 Great Strand Street, to the rear of 29 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1, took place on 19 March 2003. The site was formerly part of a warehouse, now demolished. The site lies to the north of the Liffey, on what would have been the shoreline in the medieval period. An excavation of the development site to the north of the present site took place in 2002 (Excavations 2002, No. 579, 00E0240) when a timber riverside revetment, c. 30m in length, was uncovered. This undoubtedly related to the inlet and perhaps represented attempts to form a harbour—an attempt which failed, as the structure appears to have been inundated with river gravels soon after its construction.

A single trench, 1.8m in width, was excavated north–south down the centre of the site by mechanical excavator. The sides of the trench were extremely unstable and the deposits are deep, hence the following depths are approximate. From present ground level to c. 2.8m, red-brick rubble was found. Under that, to a depth of 3.3m, was fairly compacted black silt, with fragments of red brick. Below that were naturally deposited river gravels, and water ingress.

The presence of red-brick fragments in the black silt, which has a fairly strong smell, indicates that it is of 17th/18th-century date. No structural remains of medieval or later date were uncovered on this site.

27 Coulson Avenue, Rathgar, Dublin 6