2008:413 - 5 Harcourt Street, Dublin, Dublin

Monitoring and subsequent excavation of the site was carried out on behalf of Persian Properties Ltd prior to the extension of the O’Callaghan Hotel, at the corner of Harcourt Street and Cuffe Street during May/June 2008. The site comprised a long narrow property linking Harcourt Street to Montague Lane at the rear. The original surface of the natural clay was uncovered 3.5m below the surface of the street, following the removal of the brick floor of the basement. A large rectangular cut, surrounded by a metalled surface of natural clay, at the Harcourt Street end, contained an organic fill and post-medieval pottery. A long U-shaped ditch ran diagonally the length of the site, north-east to south-west, containing similar grey/brown organic material and post-medieval Bellarmino Ware above it. The latter ditch seems likely to have been a property boundary and may explain the relatively late development of this particular site in the context of Harcourt Street itself. There were no buildings recorded on the site as late as 1875, by which time the rest of Harcourt Street had been entirely developed.
Medieval sherds were relatively plentiful in overlying strata, suggesting that medieval settlement did occur in the vicinity, pre-dating the construction of Cuffe Street, built to connect the Aungier Estate with the Restoration layout of the nearby St Stephen’s Green. The excavation was carried out with the possibility of uncovering the route of the River Stein. It has been postulated that this ran to the rear of the houses facing the south side of St Stephen’s Green. This route would take the river across to the site or very close to it. A close inspection of Duncan’s Map, 1821, suggests that the Stein River is located further south and is likely to be some distance away from the site.
An unexpected result of removing the basement was the exposure of three barrel vaults running from the property under Harcourt Street for a distance of 4–5m under the present LUAS line!