2007:501 - DUBLIN: 7 Pim Street, Dublin

Pim Street dates from 1813, from John Pim, a merchant (Pim & Goodbody). The site revealed the remains of a stone and red-brick culvert along the Forbes Lane/Pim Street frontage. Cartographic evidence suggested that the culvert formed part of the 19th-century reservoir known as the ‘Liberty Basin’ (100ft2), built on the site in the 1820s, then owned by W. Brabazon, the Earl of Meath. After protracted negotiations between the various statutory bodies of the day and the Earl of Meath, the Liberty Basin was built in 1820–21 to supply water, via fountains, to the Liberties area, which had, to date, lacked a clean and abundant source as enjoyed by other parts of the city under the control of the Corporation.

At least three quarters of the Liberty Basin built in 1820 was revealed during excavation. The north-east quadrant of the basin is probably still intact under the adjoining property warehouse built over it. The remains uncovered were in good condition and mostly intact, with only some earlier removal and intervention. This corner revealed the original 10-inch cast-iron pipe inlet, which allowed water to enter the basin from the Grand Canal watercourse. This south-west corner had been heavily reconfigured in later times, and so it was difficult to ascertain precisely the exact water flow path from the pipe inlet.

It would appear that the water may have entered into the channel between the two stone curtain walls filling the basin; the sloping red-brick finish on the culverts indicated the water level of the basin. As the amount of water received from the canal source was controlled and not continuous, the culvert probably acted as a holding area for water in the event of shortages, and this culvert was controlled by the granite tank-head located at the south-east corner of the basin. This tank-head had sluice-gated outlets from the culvert, and into the basin. Cast-iron pipes on its south section functioned as possible outlets (in the event of water over-supply) to the Poddle River, which flowed past the basin at this corner. There was no paved floor to the basin. The basin was eventually decommissioned and used by the then adjacent Jameson Distillery to store and sell spent grain from their brewing process. A stone warehouse for industrial use was eventually built over the basin. Three sections of the basin are to remain on view within the new development at ground level. The remaining basin structure is intact under the new build.

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