2016:653 - 61/62 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Dublin

An initial assessment of the site highlighted the presence of an early timber-framed party wall between the two properties, where permission for demolition had been granted (Crowley 2016). Dendrochronological dates were obtained by QUB from several of the timbers which have felling dates ranging between 1578 and 1626, where a felling date of 1564 was established for a re-used timber in an adjacent staircase in No. 62. The master chronology from the buildings dates from AD1417 to AD1623. After a full architectural survey of the buildings was undertaken, four test trenches were excavated to establish the presence of archaeological strata or structures to the rear of the properties and to establish the presence of a basement level underneath No. 62. No. 61 has a basement and where the building above remains structurally unstable there was no further investigation undertaken.

The trench within the shop space of No. 62 demonstrated late medieval stratification under 18th-century disturbance. It was excavated by hand to 1.2m, where excavation ceased on encountering a secure medieval deposit. Here, a substantial limestone wall ran parallel with and just inside the existing 19th-century shopfront, which may be of the same construction period of the party wall incorporating a 16th-century timber.

Trench 2 was excavated across both plots immediately to the rear of the standing structures. It was excavated as two trenches for 13m (east-west), where it was found necessary to widen the trench at the upper level to facilitate a better examination of the lower deposits. Its location was designed to pick up any early returns on the primary structures and to investigate for medieval cultural deposits underneath. In any event natural boulder clay was located at 2.6m below the surface, sealed by 0.85m of a black/grey organic clay containing Dublin-type medieval pottery, blackened animal bone and leather scraps. In essence, the initial c. 1.5m of dumped material sealed medieval tannery pits, which were possibly lined with a clay sealant. The dumped material above was sealed by a flagged surface and drain to the rear of No. 62. No structural remains were recorded apart from a concrete cavity block wall delineating the boundary between Nos 61 and 62, itself founded on a 0.3m wide calp limestone wall.

Trench 3 was excavated across both plots at approximately half-way down the open area to the rear of the standing structures. It extended for 10m (east-west) to an initial width of 2m, which was widened to 2m through the upper loose deposits. A similar sequence was recorded where the westernmost plot, to the rear of No. 61, contains the tannery recorded to the north in Trench 2, and tanning at the eastern plot is possibly associated with that to the rear of No. 63. The absence of tannery material in the central plot echoes the evidence in Trench 2, where the plot may have provided access through the tannery complex.

Trench 4 was excavated across the plots at their southern extent. Again, the trench was to extend for 13m (east-west) to an initial width of 2m, where the eastern 9m was trenched on the day. The trench is designed to pick up evidence for the structure depicted on Rocque (1756) which is presumably of similar antiquity to the buildings fronting the street in their primary form. In addition, where the structure possibly was constructed without a basement level, there may have survived medieval cultural deposits underneath. Again the evidence in Trench 4 points to the historic sub-division of the site into three plots, with a continuation of tanning being undertaken in the eastern back plot. The central plot had a deposit of garden soil at the same level as the tanning pits on either side. There was no evidence recorded for the structure at the end of the plot depicted on Rocque, nor was there any evidence recovered for latrine or refuse pits.

It was recommended that the archaeological resolution of the development be subject to an inclusive research agenda which considers the timber-framed wall a significant component of the site’s archaeological narrative and that the site be fully published as a peer-reviewed article. After considerable negotiations with the statutory authorities, the medieval tannery to the rear will be preserved by record in 2018, where the timbers within the buildings will be preserved in situ within the new development.

References:

Crowley, C. 2016. ’61-62 Thomas Street, Dublin 8. Archaeological Assessment report, Phase 1’. Unpublished report submitted to planning authority.

Rocque, John, 1756. An Exact Survey of the City and Suburbs of Dublin ... Dublin

Archaeology and Built Heritage, St. Paul’s Smithfield, Dublin 7