2009:328 - 63–64 THOMAS STREET, DUBLIN, Dublin

The excavation at the rear of Nos 63 and 64, Thomas Street, Dublin 8, took place from 20 July to 7 August 2009. Testing had revealed archaeological layers 1–1.5m below ground level. Because of the various construction methods, the archaeological impact differed between the northern two-thirds of the site and the southern third and the site was divided into two areas: Area 1, the northern, and Area 2, the southern area. In Area 1, it was found that there would be complete archaeological impact, but, in Area 2, piling would avoid impact over most areas. Full excavation therefore took place on Area 1, with monitoring during part of some of the construction work in Area 2. The site is of particular interest. It revealed part of a medieval tanning-pit complex in one of the city’s oldest quarters outside the western gate of the medieval city. The site is very close to, and may be part of, the tannery complex found at Vicar Street immediately to the west of the site and is positioned just outside the southern precincts of the medieval hospital of the Fratres Crucifieri which was founded by Aildred Palmer and his wife. Palmer, the founder of this earliest Dublin hospital, was an Ostman, one of the Norse citizens of Dublin before the Normans seized the city in 1170. Though the precise date of the founding of the hospital is unknown, it had been established and at work for some time before 1188 when it received formal confirmation and substantial privileges from Pope Clement III. The hospital appears to have been a very important and busy establishment into the first quarter of the 14th century. With the decline of English power during the 14th century, the revenues of the hospital were diminished by the loss of distant estates and, in 1373, the number of beds had been reduced to 115 because no more could be maintained. The hospital was suppressed in 1539 under Henry VIII.

The medieval street, Thomas Street, would have separated the tannery from the hospital. Excavation of the site revealed a complex of tanning pits, most of which were wood-lined. Medieval pottery and leather shoes along with waste fragments of leather were recovered from the pits.