County: Dublin Site name: 41–46 Great George’s Street South/51–53 Stephen Street Lower, Dublin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU018–020 Licence number: 06E0539
Author: Kevin Lohan, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 715526m, N 734036m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.343926, -6.265052
The test excavation at 41–46 South Great George’s Street was carried out in the basement and ground floor of a standing building, thus limiting the area which could be excavated and also the areas which could be tested. However, the writer feels that a true picture of the archaeological deposits present at the site has been ascertained.
In all, seven test-pits were excavated in the basement and two test-trenches were excavated in the ground floor of the building. The results show a significant amount of archaeological material present on the site. In the basement, the exposed deposits seemed to be confined to the south-east corner. A dark waterlogged deposit was exposed in this pit. No datable material was recovered. In the other pits, the relatively modern material was laid directly on to the yellow clay. The only deviation from this was a thin layer of redeposited natural present in the centre of the basement. The dark waterlogged deposits present in pits in the south-eastern portion of the site would seem to indicate that there are substantial archaeological deposits in this area and also possibly further south in the site in areas which were unavailable for testing. While no archaeological deposits were uncovered in the remaining areas, the potential remains for archaeology cut into the boulder clay to survive beneath the basement floor.
The trenches inserted into the ground floor of the building also exposed archaeological deposits. Test-trench 1 to the south of the site produced both a post-medieval stratigraphy and material lower down which may be earlier in date. The boulder clay at the bottom of the stratigraphy was undisturbed and would also have the potential to contain archaeological features cut into it. This is especially true in the context of discoveries uncovered in other sites excavated in the vicinity of the development site. The archaeology uncovered on the Dunnes Stores site for example, directly across the road from this development site, shows the early medieval and Viking material that can be present in the boulder clay in this part of Dublin.
