County: Dublin Site name: DUBLIN: 15 Nelson Street/Rear of 53–55 Eccles Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E1049
Author: Abi Cryerhall, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 715344m, N 735596m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.357985, -6.267215
Nelson Street is situated between Eccles Street and Blessington Street, north Dublin city centre. Much of the property in this area was owned in the 18th century by the Lord Mayor, Sir John Eccles. Part of this estate, together with the former St Mary's Abbey lands, was bought by the Gardiner family for development. New streets, squares and houses were developed in the area throughout the 18th century and Nelson's Place (present-day Nelson Street) made its first appearance on Wilson's map of 1811. By 1820 houses had been built on the street frontage.
Monitoring of the bulk excavations associated with the development took place in the autumn of 2004. Overlying natural across the site was a layer of crushed red-brick and mortar fragments, which contained few fragments of 18th-century pottery. This layer was a trample layer associated with the construction of either the Eccles Street or Nelson Street properties. Over this was a homogeneous layer of greenish-brown garden soil. This layer contained the usual occupation-related debris, such as pottery and glass-bottle fragments, animal bone, charcoal and cinders. Sealing the garden soil were a number of 20th-century dump deposits.
No cut features in the natural or deposits predating the 18th century were present on site. The activity related to construction and occupation of the Eccles Street and Nelson Street properties.
27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
