2018:642 - 33-33b Mill Street, Dublin, Dublin

Monitoring was carried out of groundworks associated with a whiskey distillery and visitor centre at No. 33–33b Mill Street, Dublin 8. Monitoring of underpinning, ground reduction and excavation of an attenuation tank took place intermittently between 15 September and 5 December 2017.

The wider area surrounding the development area is characterised by industrial heritage, with upstanding structures including mills and tanneries (including the building at 33 Mill Street) and sub-surface remains, such as tanning pits, identified during surrounding archaeological excavations. The surrounding area once formed the industrial heartland of Dublin, which was focused around the River Poddle. The river was the major engine for industry from the medieval period up until the 20th century.

The development area comprised a yard to the rear of 33–33b Mill St. The 19th-century buildings fronting Mill Street were retained as part of the development. The modern yard surface to the rear of the buildings was surfaced with concrete and also with modern brick in places. The creation of this yard had resulted in the scarping of the natural slope, falling from Newmarket Square to the north. A layer of post-medieval rubble and debris was found to cover the site to a depth of c. 0.1m below the modern brick and concrete surface. Below this, a brown-grey boulder clay was identified. In the western side of the site, a 5m x 5m area was reduced by 2m to accommodate an attenuation tank. The same stratigraphy was encountered here with grey-brown boulder clay extending from 0.1–2m.

The site had seen significant scarping and conversion into a level yard sometime in the 20th century. No features or deposits of archaeological significance were identified within the development area during monitoring of groundworks on site.

Unit G1 Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow