2012:220 - ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, DUBLIN, Dublin

On inspection of the site, the upper surface was found to be composed of black organic soil, which contained small fragments of human bone, probably suggesting that the soil originated in the graveyard. A total of three engineering test-pits were excavated, each of which was to a pre-determined depth of 1.35m. This investigation revealed that the upper 0.4m of ground was composed of a disturbed black clay deposit, which contained modern finds (such as plastic), along with ceramics dating to the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Small fragments of human bone (20-60mm) suggests that this layer originated in the graveyard, perhaps when the latter was lowered in the mid-19^th century. This layer sealed the demolished remains of a 20^th-century lean-to building, the mortar floor of which survived at 0.4m below present ground level and the purple slates of which were also evident in the black clay.  Below this level, a layer of brick rubble, 18^th century in date, was identified, which can probably be related to the demolition of tenement buildings in this location in the late 19^th century. A collection of twenty-three grave-slabs, which are dated to the 18^th and 19^th centuries, were in and around the proposed site and these were photographed and recorded. Many were found to be cracked and broken. These mostly high-status slabs were not from St Patrick’s Cathedral, however: they were removed for safe-keeping from St Peter’s Church, Aungier Street, after it was demolished in the 1980s. A total of twelve were moved a short distance away, to protect them from further damage.