2008:391 - 31–34 Abbey Street/42–51 Strand Street Great/Byrnes Lane, Dublin, Dublin

An assessment was carried out at a proposed development site located at 31–34 Abbey Street/42–51 Great Strand Street and bounded by Byrnes Lane on 6–8 May 2008. The proposed development involves an eight-storey development over a two-storey full footprint basement carpark. The development will consist of a mixed-used development accommodating a hotel, a bus interchange and retail space and must also incorporate the existing RPA/Luas control box, two Luas ticket computer pods and waiting facilities.
The site is located on the north bank of the River Liffey within the zone of archaeological potential for the historic town of Dublin. In the medieval period this area was situated within the jurisdiction of the liberty of St Mary’s Abbey, which lay to the east of the medieval suburb of Oxmanstown.
A total of six test-trenches were mechanically excavated during the testing programme. The results indicated that 18th–19th-century remains sealed shallow deposits of 17th-century land reclamation, which in turn sealed riverine deposits of gravels and silt. No clear evidence for the presence of features or deposits predating the land reclamation material was uncovered but worked timbers possibly relating to timber structures were identified beneath the reclamation deposits and the possibility of encountering timber structures or deposits cannot be completely discounted.
In Trench 5 in the north-east quadrant of the site oak planks, thought to be sawn rather than radially split, were identified underneath the 18th-century structures within the river gravels and within the grey riverine silt at a depth of –0.8m OD, which could possibly reflect a wooden structure (they could also be driftwood). In Trench 3 and Trench 6 timber planks (soft wood, thought to be pine) were found underneath the 18th-century remains at the base of the land reclamation deposits within the river gravels.
The results of the investigations to date would indicate that any such wooden structural material is most likely 17th-century in date, possibly relating to the inception of land-reclamation activity, although an earlier date cannot be fully discounted. It must also be noted that excavation in 2002 by Claire Walsh (Archaeological Projects Ltd) at the adjacent site, 52–56 Strand Street Great, revealed a substantial medieval timber revetment (Excavations 2002, No. 580, 00E0240), which was presumed to continue into the proposed development site and, although no evidence for its continuation was identified during this assessment, the presence of oak timbers in Test-Trench 5 means the possibility of encountering such remains cannot be completely discounted.