2007:467 - DUBLIN: Chancery Lane/Ship Street, Dublin

Excavations on the Chancery Lane/Ship Street Great site were undertaken as part of a planning proposal to develop a large block that measures c. 50m by 60m. The site is located on the northern and western side of the church site of St Michael le Pole, within Dublin’s historic medieval core. The first phase of excavation was conducted between 1 and 4 May 2007, a second phase of excavation was carried out between 16 and 30 October 2007 and the final third phase of excavation was carried out between 6 and 19 March 2008. A total of 24 test-trenches were excavated at the site. Given the site’s archaeological importance, hand excavation was carried out within many of the test-trenches.

The church site of St Michael le Pole (established c. AD 700) acted as a focus for later burial and settlement activity. The archaeological deposits found during the investigation dated from the medieval (AD 1200–1540) and early post-medieval (AD 1540–1690) and later post-medieval (AD 1690–1800) periods. The archaeological deposit profile within the site was not consistent. The earliest, and most significant, deposits are located both within, and immediately adjacent to, the St Michael le Pole church site. Later medieval and post-medieval deposits do extend across the site, although the content of the medieval layers appears to be marginal at the northern and western end.

Early medieval/Viking Age activity (c. AD 600–1200)
No early medieval archaeological evidence for an enclosure or boundary has been identified surrounding the Church of St Michael le Pole on any campaign of excavation to date. It is likely that the church and graveyard were unenclosed prior to the Anglo-Norman period. In spite of the absence of a physical boundary, such as a ditch, a clear dense ‘halo’ of burials was recorded by the writer on the southern side of the church during the Golden Lane excavations in 2005 (Excavations 2005, No. 442, 04E1030). These southern burials extended under the post-medieval graveyard wall. The distinction between the edge of the cemetery and ‘secular’ ground beyond it was obvious during the 2005 excavation. A small number (c. 10) of early medieval contemporary pits and kilns and other later archaeological features were identified beyond the cemetery. These features were located deliberately beyond the cemetery edge, thus confirming the fact that the boundary, or edge of the cemetery, albeit without archaeological expression, was known or visible at that time.

Eight test-trenches (10–14, 16, 20 and 23) were hand-excavated to attempt to locate the northern and western boundary (extent) of burials around the Church of St Michael le Pole within the current site. These trenches were deliberately placed immediately adjacent to the known church site. One heavily truncated in situ human burial was identified in Trench 23. Occasionally, clearly disarticulated human bone was identified in the test-trenches and close attention was paid to the boulder clay in all of these investigations. The test-trenches were placed closely together to ensure suitable coverage was established on the northern side of the church. Additional test-trenches were excavated on the western side of the church and the evidence from these trenches strongly suggests that the development of the post-medieval early 18th-century houses on Chancery Lane has truncated the early and later church deposits in this location.

The test-trenches opened at the site strongly suggest that the cemetery that surrounds the church site of St Michael le Pole is not located substantially to the north and west of the graveyard illustrated on the historic maps. The preference for burials to be located on the south, east and west of a church and not on the northern side is emerging as a feature of medieval burial practice in Ireland. This can be paralleled at St Peter’s Church in Waterford (Hurley and McCutcheon 1997, 192–209). The picture emerging from the excavations at the Church of St Michael le Pole mirrors this. A model can be proposed at the church site where burials lie to a greater degree to the south than on the other sides. This model for burial at church sites is supported by the growing evidence from the combined archaeological excavations at the Church of St Michael le Pole.

No definitive pre-Norman archaeological deposits were uncovered during the investigations, although it is likely that some early non-burial activity is located within the site. The excavations strongly suggest that the burial horizon is contained within the graveyard marked on the historic maps. It is clear that the cemetery never extended north of this boundary. It would appear likely that the western edge of the cemetery no longer survives and has been heavily truncated by later 18th-century cellars and other post-medieval activity.

High medieval (AD 1200–1540)
An accumulation of medieval ‘garden soil’ was a consistent element within the soil profiles revealed on site. These deposits survived at 1–2m deep in Trenches 4–7, 9, 11, 12 and 16. The garden soil deposits were significantly shallower in places and would appear to be present across 60–70% of the site. The construction of basemented 18th-century houses along Ship Street Great and Chancery Lane is likely to have completely removed the medieval deposits from those locations and the medieval deposits appear to survive best in the centre of the site back from the street front. Clearly, post-medieval activity on the site has involved the truncation and removal of pockets of medieval archaeology. Clear evidence of medieval pits cut into the boulder clay was evident in Trenches 5, 11, 16 and 23.

Post-medieval (AD 1540–1900)
The uppermost archaeological deposits consist of post-medieval houses, basements, laneways and garden soils and other habitation-related levels. The post-medieval buildings were constructed fronting on to Chancery Lane and Ship Street Great. The surviving late 17th- and early 18th-century cellars and post-medieval activity have truncated earlier deposits significantly along these frontages. These deposits vary in depth on the site between 0.3m and 2m; however, the average depth is c. 1m. The earliest post-medieval activity dates from the late 16th century, although the bulk of these deposits date from the 17th and 18th century. Extensive 19th-century deposits exist at the centre of the site overlying the earlier medieval deposits.

Reference
Hurley, M.F. and McCutcheon, S.W.J. 1997 St Peter’s Church and graveyard in Barry, Cleary and Hurley (eds), Late Viking Age and medieval Waterford, excavations 1986–1992. Waterford Corporation, Waterford.

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