County: Dublin Site name: Charlemont Street, Ranelagh North
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: 13E0313
Author: David McIlreavy, IAC Ltd
Site type: Post-medieval industrial
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 715715m, N 732632m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.331270, -6.262728
Excavation and associated monitoring at Charlemont Street, Dublin 2 was carried out in response to planning conditions attached to a development (DCC Planning Ref.: 3742/10, Condition 13; ABP Ref.: PL 29S.238212, Condition 20). Monitoring followed on a desktop impact assessment carried out by IAC Ltd (Bailey and Goodbody, 2010).
The development area is fronted to the east by Charlemont Street, to the south by Charlemont Mall, to the west by Richmond Street South and by Harcourt Road to the north. Tom Kelly Road, which is a cul‐de‐sac, partially bisects the site, orientated north-east/south-west from its Charlemont Street access.
It was a brownfield site, the present ground level having been heavily truncated by the construction of a 20th‐century flat complex. The Grand Canal is located to the immediate south of the development. The boundary of the area of archaeological potential surrounding the city of Dublin (DU018‐020) is located 500m north-north-west of the development area. The closest recorded monument is DU018‐051, which consists of an inn site c. 180m to the north. An analysis of the historical mapping of the development area has not only confirmed the continued development of the site during the last two centuries, but has also revealed that the site once contained a large number of terraced houses. These were demolished during the mid‐20th century and a number of large flat blocks were built on the site, which are still extant.
One area of archaeological significance was identified during the monitoring works, and excavation of this area was conducted between 23 and 27 April 2018. The excavation recorded two trough features, three pits, two earth‐fast barrels and a sump feature. These features were associated with two phases of industrial activity with a Terminus Ante Quem in the first half of the 19th century. Analysis of the artefactual assemblage suggested that the terminal activity on site consisted of domestic dumping within the 20th century.
All archaeological features associated with this site were fully excavated. No further archaeological mitigation is required as part of the development.
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