2018:912 - 21 Ship Street Great, Dublin 8, Dublin

An archaeological excavation took place of a terrace ground-floor level of two late seventeenth-century Dutch Billy house types and two later buildings from the late eighteenth-century located on Ship Street Great, Dublin 8. The northern laneway associated with the church of St Michael Le Pole was also identified during the excavation programme. The excavation was deemed necessary by Dublin City Archaeologist, Dr. Ruth Johnson, after several features were identified during archaeological testing in 2008.
The principal focus of the excavation centered on the post-medieval remains initially recorded in 2008 immediately below the concrete floor level during test trenching by James Hession.
The excavation was undertaken in dry, warm weather conditions over 30-day period in July and August 2018. The excavation successfully exposed the terraced ground-floor level of two late seventeenth-century Dutch Billy house types and two later buildings from the late eighteenth-century. A number of medieval pits were also recorded during the excavation programme.
The finds assemblage mostly comprised ceramics deposited at the time of demolition of the buildings, most of which were post-medieval in date, including numerous clay pipes, glass bottles, leather and some coins located in the lower deposits with the houses. A number of medieval ceramics were found in the medieval pits and in some of the earlier deposits that were found at the northern end of the site, including the complete late thirteenth-century Dublin Ware jug, which was retrieved from a medieval pit.