2006:609 - DUBLIN: 76–78 Dame Street, Dublin

The site is located outside one of the main gates to the medieval city, in what was originally the eastern Viking and Anglo-Norman suburb. It is flanked on the west by the Poddle River, which defended the settlement on the eastern side from the early 10th century onwards, and was only culverted in the 17th century. The monitoring programme (February/March 2006) was confined to the rear of Nos 76–78 Dame Street (north side), where post-medieval remains, in the form of walls, flagged surfaces and at least one drain, were found during a previous testing programme (O’Neill 2005; Excavations 2005, No. 432), lying c. 2m below present ground level. The subsequent excavation (15m east–west by between 8.2m and 9.5m in width) of these features suggests that the modern open yards (at the rear of the Georgian buildings fronting on to the street) were originally occupied by various buildings, the earliest of which were of brick and were located in the north-east corner of the site (Simpson 2006). Only the very foundations survived (between 0.3–0.4m in depth), but several distinctive small chambers (3m by at least 2m) were identified, the handmade coarse brick suggestive of a 17th-century date. It was also noted that the orientation of these small chambers differed from the surrounding 18th-century Georgian buildings, the former taking their line from Crampton Lane, an early street, and the latter influenced by Dame Street.

These brick remains can probably be identified as part of a long terrace of stables depicted on de Gomme’s map of Dublin (dated 1683) as the location of the mounted regiment known as the ‘Lifeguard’. These stables were subsequently demolished some time in the 18th century, presumably as part of a building programme, which included a realignment of the buildings in the vicinity. Two large structures or ‘infill houses’ were then built, both of which were domestic in function, as they had large fireplaces at basement level and flagged floors. They were built after the main houses (Nos 76–78), and one of the buildings was only accessed through the basement of No. 76. An earlier laneway probably bordered the site on the west, following the line of the Poddle culvert, as one of the buildings was accessed from this side and this appears as a boundary on John Greene’s 1820 map of Dublin. Both buildings were subsequently enlarged on the northern side in the late 19th century, but both extensions included fireplaces, suggesting that the function of both basements was still predominantly domestic.

As stated previously, the excavation was confined to the rear of the properties and only extended to 2m in depth. As a result, some of the lower courses of the various wall structures, including the brick stables, were left in situ. In addition to this, the basements of the main buildings were left intact and there was no excavation in this area.

References
Ó Neill, J. 2005 Archaeological assessment, 76 Dame Street, Dublin 2, Licence No. 05E0416: Planning ref. 3914/03. Report submitted to National Monuments Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and the National Museum of Ireland in September 2005.
Simpson, L. 2006 Archaeological monitoring of a development site at 76 Dame Street Dublin 2, Licence no. 05E0416 ext. Report submitted to National Monuments Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and the National Museum of Ireland in March 2006.

27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2