2007:479 - DUBLIN: Kevin Street Garda Station/35–47 Bride Street, Dublin

The development site is located at the corner of Kevin Street and Bride Street and includes the eastern yard of Kevin Street garda station. The site is very important both archaeologically and architecturally, as most of the main garda building has been identified as the medieval palace of St Sepulchre, the residence of the Archbishop of Dublin throughout the medieval period and into the 19th century. The original palace, within a walled precinct, took the form of a quadrangle and a recent examination by Danielle O’Donovan reveals that a large section of this medieval quadrangle still survives, incorporated within the existing buildings (the western wing is particularly intact; see for example the officer’s mess, which was part of a large tower) (O’Donovan 2003). O’Donovan describes the complex as having a great hall, a private chamber, a chapel and possibly two towers (one almost attached to Marsh’s Library) and an examination of the existing buildings has revealed that most of the quadrangle survives, although there are later elements. The south-west building (now the mess) was evidently originally a tower, suggested by the excessively thick walls and internal stone corbels in the east wall that originally held the roof. The western range survives relatively intact and there is a fine doorway in the west wall inserted by Hugh Inge (Archbishop between 1521 and 1528). Further north, there is a curious vaulted structure orientated east–west, which O’Donovan suggests may represent the church, due to its orientation. A total of three barrel-vaulted cellars also survive, which have surviving sections of wickerwork centring. Part of the eastern range also survives at the southern end, where the wall thickness of the buildings suggests that they are medieval in date. However, the north-east corner of the east range has been demolished.

The works carried out from September to December 2007 include an additional assessment (four trenches) and a monitoring programme, which involved the excavation of a service trench, engineering test-pits and boreholes.

The test-trenching was concentrated in the north-western corner of the development site, in the garda yard, but extended beyond the limit of the site boundaries on the western side, across the missing north-east corner of the quadrangle. At least two medieval walls were identified lying outside the development site, on the western side, which can be related to the main medieval quadrangle. Neither of these walls is identifiable on Rocque’s 1756 map of Dublin and they were evidently demolished by this date. O’Donovan has suggested that the east range of the quadrangle survives intact but that the present building built up against the east range is later in date and the assessment, while not conclusive, probably supports this. However, the remains of what is probably a medieval wall along the line of the building were located at the northern end and this may represent some sort of medieval enclosing wall. The post-medieval period is also well represented, especially in the garda yard, where a series of post-medieval walls and clays were revealed; these included evidence of a brick structure, probably a cellar. The clay deposits are relatively well preserved and represented by a consistent mixed brown clay deposit, which was up to 1m deep in places and appeared to represent a dump deposit with fragments of red brick and mortar.

Reference
O’Donovan, D. 2003 English patron, English building? The importance of St Sepulchre archiepiscopal palace, Dublin. In S. Duffy (ed.), Medieval Dublin IV, 253–78. Dublin.

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