2006:614 - DUBLIN: Smock Alley Theatre, Essex Street West, Temple Bar, Dublin

The site is located in the former 19th-century church of SS Michael and John in Temple Bar, Dublin. Architectural investigations of this building by the writer in 1994 revealed it represented the almost complete remains of the Smock Alley theatre, the most important theatre in Ireland (Simpson 1994). The theatre was established in 1662 by John Ogilby and the interior partially collapsed in 1670, as it was built on land that had been reclaimed in the 13th century, towards the River Liffey. In 1735 there were renewed fears about its instability and the northern end of the building was completely rebuilt. The theatre eventually closed in 1758 and was converted into a warehouse before being reputedly demolished and replaced by the church of SS Michael and John, built in 1811. This church, which was lavishly decorated, was an important church historically, as it was the first Catholic church to ring its bell in Dublin in 300 years. The last mass was held in 1989 and it was deconsecrated shortly afterwards, mainly because of declining numbers attending. The church and several adjoining buildings were then extensively renovated by Temple Bar Properties in 1991 as part of the new development of the area. During these works, an architectural survey was carried out by the writer, which established that almost the entire structure was the 18th and part of the 17th-century original Smock Alley theatre, which had evidently not been demolished as recorded.

An archaeological assessment by Neil O’Flanagan in 1992 (Excavations 1992, No. 60) located the remains of a series of internal walls related to various phases of the building. A large limestone wall was also located at the southern end of the building, which was identified as possibly being medieval in date, although one sherd of pottery suggested that it might have dated to the post-medieval period. The assessment under discussion, carried out in 2006, relocated this wall and exposed a section of it, primarily to record the exact location and to establish a date. The wall was found to represent two separate walls, which could be dated to the late 17th century, suggesting that they probably formed part of the original theatre. Both walls directly abutted each other, giving a combined width of 1.5m, and extended to at least 1.5m in depth, cut through medieval reclamation deposits. The assessment also located a series of other walls, one of which is probably the curving southern wall of the auditorium, and this was also cut into medieval reclamation deposits. The remainder of the walls, lying between 0.3m and 0.5m below present ground level, are probably related to an internal flooring system and these are cut into 0.3–0.7m of black silty clay, which can be dated to the 18th century. Medieval deposits lie at c. 0.7m below present ground level and probably extend for a further 4m, as suggested by previous excavations by the writer in this area at Essex Street West (Excavations 1994, No. 63, 94E0191).

Reference
Simpson, L. 1994 Smock Alley theatre: The evolution of a building. Wicklow.

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