2017:512 - Schoolhouse Lane, Santry, Dublin 9, Dublin

Testing on the footprint of a new church was undertaken to comply with a request for further information from Dublin City Council. Dublin Christian Life Church applied for development permission for the construction of a new Church at Imaal, Schoolhouse Lane, Santry, Dublin 9, planning reference number 2415/17. The site comprises a dwelling house, which is the former rectory of St Pappan’s church, and a garden to the south of the house. It is situated within an ecclesiastical complex associated with St Pappan’s Church (DU014-057001). The former rectory (DU014-057002-) is a 3-bay, 2-storey house over basement with an extension to rear. The roof is hipped with two chimney stacks each containing 6 chimney pots. The front façade is pebble dashed and the first floor is divided from the ground floor by a plaster string course. A total of 3 steps provide access to the central front door. A modern porch has been added to the front façade. The majority of the windows are replacement PVC. There is an outhouse to the rear. It is newly plastered and painted and has a galvanised roof.
The proposed new church will be located in the garden to the south (front of) the existing dwelling house.
Three test trenches were excavated by machine in the front garden, on the footprint of the foundations of the proposed church site. Garden soil, to a depth of between 0.5-0.7m, was recorded in all three trenches. Occasional fragments of modern slate, bone, brick and glazed pottery were recovered from the garden soil. It overlay orange brown sandy subsoil. Cultivation furrows cutting the subsoil were recorded in Trenches 1 and 3. The furrows were spaced between 0.5-0.7m apart and were orientated north-west/south-east. The furrows are likely to be the remains of garden cultivation features.