2016:712 - Leinster House, Merrion Row, Dublin 2, Dublin

An excavation took place of a small pit between the National Museum of Ireland on the west and the Dáil Chamber on the east, in a small courtyard between both buildings. The pit was required to test the ground conditions for a proposed new lift, linking the Dáil Chamber and the National Museum. The lift was suspended, thus the lift-shaft did not extend to the basement ground level.
This area originally lay within the stable yard attached to Leinster House, just in front of the Kitchen/Laundry building, a large block that was attached to the house on the southern side and was contemporary to the main build, c. 17th century. This block still forms the core of the Dáil Chamber. The site is considered to have high archaeological potential as the construction of the National Museum in the late 19th century produced a Viking sword dated to the 9/10th century, which is highly likely to have come from a Viking warrior grave somewhere around the site. The artefact was found in 1885, the find-spot recorded as ‘found in excavating the site of the museum of art and science (now the National Museum)’. Harrison suggests that this sword is from a male Viking warrior furnished burial and has collated the details of the discovery in a new volume of Viking grave and grave-goods (Harrison and Ó Floinn 2014, 563). The sword was found in an area measuring 63m by 65m and at a level of 13m O.D. As there were existing buildings on the southern side of the site of the museum at that date, Harrison and Ó Floinn suggest that the sword is more likely to have come from the construction of the northern side of the National Museum, to the north-west of the site under discussion. If this was the general find-spot for the burial, it would place it approximately 280m south of the river Liffey on a raised height rising up from the river and overlooking Hoggen Green, 500m to the north-west. This is a known Viking cemetery in what is now College Green, in front of Trinity College.
The test-trench was located within an open but narrow courtyard, at the northern end but just south of an arched entrance into the courtyard. The trench measured 1.5m north-south by 0.55m and was excavated to 0.77m in depth. The profile is as follows:
0 - 0.08m: Hard concrete
0.08 - 0.1m: Lean-mix
0.1 - 0.27m: Sticky grey marl/clay with fragments of brick; there was water ingress at this depth.
0.27 – 0.77m Crumbly dark green clay with brick fragments and mortar fragments, 2mm in diameter, and rounded stones measuring between 0.06m and 0.08 in diameter.
0. 77m Boulder clay. Excavation halted at this point.

The wall foundation
The base of wall on the National Museum side was also exposed in the trench to 0.77m in depth. The foundation was composed of rough limestone, measuring between 0.2m by 0.15m and 0.15m by 0.07m and was roughly coursed, bulging out at the southern end. The foundation was surprisingly unsubstantial and was cut into very hard and sticky boulder clay.

Reference:
Harrison, Stephen H and Ó Floinn, Raghnall, 2014, Viking Graves and Grave-Goods in Ireland. Medieval Dublin Excavations 1962–81, Ser. B, 11, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.

28 Cabinteely Close, Cabinteely, Dublin 18