County: Dublin Site name: 19-20 Blackhall Street, Dublin
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU018-020 Licence number: 19E0136 ext.
Author: Paul Duffy
Site type: Urban post-medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 714434m, N 734505m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.348373, -6.281275
Excavations on this site followed on from a programme of testing undertaken on 26–27 February 2019, which was carried out by Paul Duffy of IAC Ltd under licence 19E0136.
Excavation uncovered a terrace of three cellars fronting onto Blackhall Street, beneath and overlying a significant depth of post-medieval demolition rubble and made ground. These cellars overlay two tanning pits and a linear feature. A stone-built culvert ran to the rear of the houses at a slightly different angle.
The results of the excavation suggest that the excavation area lay just to the west of the grounds of the Blue Coats Boys School (est. 1664) in the later 17th century. The linear feature is therefore likely to represent the western boundary of the school grounds. It is probable that the post-medieval infill is comprised in part of demolition material arising from the levelling of the Blue Coat School in the late 18th century. Stratigraphic and artefactual information has shown that the cellars date to very late 18th/early 19th-century structures. No such structures are represented on the 19th-century mapping.
It may be the case that that these cellars represent a terrace of early-mid 19th-century houses that were never completed beyond cellar level. The inherent instability and loose, deep nature of the infilled material may explain why these houses were abandoned. What appears to support this theory is the fact that none of the cellars had any floor surfaces installed – neither mortar, cobble or slab - and the one fireplace excavated did not exhibit any obvious signs of burning/scorching on the stonework. Further, there was no build-up of ash/cinder in or around the hearth.
The footprint of the basement has been archaeologically resolved to 0.4m below formation level. All archaeological features, structures and deposits in this footprint have been preserved by record. The piling and foundation layout across the remainder of the site has been modified to ensure minimum impact upon the structures which survive below ground.
IAC Archaeology, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
