County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 14–16 Gloucester Street South/62–65 Townsend Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E1025
Author: Abi Cryerhall, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Building
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 716537m, N 734290m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.345985, -6.249772
This assessment was undertaken in September 2004. Four test-trenches were mechanically excavated across the site. These revealed 17th- and 18th-century reclamation deposits and the foundation remains of a 19th-century building fronting South Gloucester Street.
During the medieval period the development site was under water, the Liffey shoreline being located further south, roughly along the line of Townsend Street. Known medieval sites in the area include: the Long Stone (SMR 18:20–129), erected by the Vikings to commemorate their mooring point close to the River Steine; a hospital on Lazar's Hill (SMR 18:20–61) that provided accommodation for pilgrims and lepers; and All Saints Priory (SMR 18:20–44), the site of which later became home to Trinity College.
As the city expanded, reclamation of the Liffey flood-plains increased during the 17th century. Speed's map of 1610 illustrated the progress of the reclamation in the earlier part of the century, with no development east of All Saints Priory or around the South Gloucester Street area.
Bernard de Gomme's map of 1673 shows that the reclamation of the area around the site was not fully complete, with the quay wall not extending as far east as the South Gloucester Street area. Development did increase though, as houses were depicted fronting Lazy Hill (Townsend Street).
Charles Brooking's map of 1728 shows that the quay walls and more streets had been constructed in the area. The reclamation of this area must have been complete by this time. The expansion of Dublin in the 18th century was charted by John Rocque. His survey of 1756 details the houses and businesses on the quays, Lazar's Hill (Townsend Street) and the surrounding side streets. South Gloucester Street appears for the first time, though no building had yet been constructed on the block (except for a few houses on Moss Street, to the west).
Development on the site takes place after the mid-18th century, with structures appearing on South Gloucester Street on the first-edition OS map of 1847. These buildings were warehouses and industrial in nature.
27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
