2016:648 - Pearse Street Business School, Luce Hall, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin

The development site was situated directly to the north-east of Trinity College. Study of the available historic maps, literature, previous excavations, recorded monuments and finds records indicated that the site was outside the area of extensive archaeology connected with prehistoric, medieval and early modern Dublin. It was to the east of significant habitation and burial, including the ecclesiastical site of All Hallows founded in 1166 and continuing in use till its Dissolution in 1538, before the later development of Trinity College in 1592. The cartographic survey indicated also that the site was outside the eastern precincts of the college and that it stood on a gradual slope close to the shore of the Liffey and Steine. Great Brunswick Street was developed by the Wide Streets Commissioners at the end of the 18th century and the street, later called Pearse Street, was developed with substantial housing from the late 18th to 19th centuries. The site of the development was located in the area of the 19th-century houses on Pearse Street at the Westland Row railway bridge.

Monitoring of works on site commenced on 5 April 2016. Initially, there was much digging for location of water and electrical, etc., service pipes and ducts which were found in all locations throughout the site. The demolition of the existing buildings on site then took place along with the excavation of their basements while piling for the new construction took place along the perimeter. Monitoring on site finished on 2 September 2016.

The finds attested to the presence of substantial houses and their demolition in the 19th century after the development of Great Brunswick Street (present day Pearse Street) while there were no features attesting to activity before the 18th or 19th century. A cut stone baluster found close to the viaduct indicated that the same substantial buildings as those to the west continued in this area of Pearse Street. Coal cellars in basement cellars of the houses were found at the north face of the piling trench. These were the only structural remains of the substantial buildings of 19th century on the site. Their openings were found at the north perimeter of the site as the cellars themselves were under the public pavement of present day Pearse Street. Their arched brick interiors with with their stone-lined circular openings were recorded under the pavement.

A stone box drain of a common 19th-century type, found widely both in towns, garden and field throughout the country, was found in the north-west corner of the site. This was neatly lined with flat stones and was approximately 0.5m wide by 0.5-0.6m deep. It was capped with cut stone which had the appearance of architectural stone and it is likely therefore that the drain may have been created at the same time as the 19th-century buildings were demolished along Pearse Street, utilising architectural debris.

The cellars were impacted upon at the top in order to build a crane as required for the development. This crane was mounted in the only position possible, a loading bay in Pearse Street, just outside the site, which is directly upon and above the area of cellaring. It was found that the crane pad would impact the tops of the cellars and it was proposed that the brick tops should be removed and replaced by concrete slabs. Mitigation was discussed with the city archaeologist and it was agreed that the cellars would be filled with gravel, their top surfaces removed to the required level. The upper cellar arch structure was to be separated from the concrete slab by gravel so that most of the feature was preserved in situ. The cellars were fully recorded and thus preserved by record.

Ballybrack Road, Glencullen, Dublin 18