County: Dublin Site name: HOWTH: Harbour Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU015-028001–2 Licence number: 03E0632
Author: John O’Connor, ADS Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 728429m, N 739268m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.387943, -6.069260
Monitoring of groundworks at the St Lawrence Hotel, Harbour Road, Howth, Co. Dublin, was carried out over the period 30 June 2003 to 17 February 2005. The works involved the construction of a mixed commercial and residential development on the site of the St Lawrence Hotel, which resulted in the demolition of mainly later elements of the building. The site is within the zone of archaeological potential of the site of a cist burial and a mound, both of which were exposed during construction work for the house of the District Inspector of coastguards in 1867 (PRIA 1866–9, 330–2). No evidence of either site was uncovered during testing carried out on the site by Audrey Gahan in 2002 (02E0602), but it was recommended that all groundworks be monitored.
The works could be divided into three distinct areas of the site: the old garden area to the side of the hotel, the carpark to the front and the sloping ‘cliff’ area to the rear. All ground clearance works were carried out by a tracked, mechanical excavator fitted with a 2m-wide toothless bucket. Nothing of archaeological significance was discovered on the site during the monitoring of groundworks.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
