County: Dublin Site name: Dublin Port Red Brick Building
Sites and Monuments Record No.: none Licence number: 21E0737
Author: Niall Brady and Dominick Gallagher
Site type: Substation
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 718126m, N 734900m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.351110, -6.225704
Archaeological monitoring (21E0737 and 21R0003) has taken place of construction and rehabilitation works at the former electricity substation, a protected structure (NIAH 50011170, RPS 8771), built in 1922 and located at the junction of East Wall Road and Alexandra Road, Dublin 1.
Dublin Port Company carried out the works to rehabilitate the building for use as a small event space, known today as the Substation, in line with planning permission DCC 2681/20.
Excavation below the concrete floor slab exposed the former sea wall that was built in the eighteenth century to serve as part of the polder, or dyke, which was constructed to reclaim the North Lotts area of Dublin on the north side of the River Liffey. The sea wall is recorded as the East Quay/East Wall and lends its name to the East Wall Road that runs on top of the larger structure today.
As the port developed its deepwater basin during the nineteenth century, this length of the sea wall became obsolete and the sea area to its east was reclaimed. Among the small finds recovered, a series of clay pipes reflect the allegiance to political movements and trade organisations that were widespread in the late nineteenth century. The substation itself, which sits on top of the sea wall and the reclamation deposits, has its own important history that speaks not only to the early electrification of the port but to its part in the roll-out nationally during the very early years of the Free State. Overall, the findings shed new light on the layered history of Dublin’s sea walls and quay structures, establishing the site as a crucial part of the city's industrial and maritime heritage.
The excavated portion of the sea wall can be viewed today through a glass portal that forms part of the new floor to the substation. The project featured on an RTÉ News item on 5 October, 2022: https://x.com/rtenews/status/1577571505076060160 (accessed 15/11/2024).
Archaeological Diving Company Ltd, Beverley Studios, Church Terrace, Bray, Co. Wicklow A98 P3V2
