Dublin City Archaeological Archive/ 36-39 James Street, Dublin 8 (01E1034)

Context

Creator(s): Margaret Gowen and Company

• Administrative History ↴

  Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd., Rath House, Ferndale Road, Rathmichael, Co. Dublin, is a professional archaeological company founded in the early 1980s. The company has carried out a number of archaeological excavations and development-led investigations arising from the requirements of development control and planning process, in line with legal provisions of the Planning and Development Acts (2000) and the National Monuments Acts (1930-2004) and Amendments Acts. The 36-39 James Street Collection is one of many site archives that have been generated through these development-led excavations. An archaeological assessment of the site was carried out on 22-23 April 2002. A second phase of archaeological assessment was carried out on 5-6 September 2002. The site was excavated in January-March 2003 in advance of the construction of three blocks of mixed residential and commercial use. The excavation was carried out for M & M Construction Ltd. The excavation covered 2 areas, 36-39 James Street frontage including the plots to the rear (Block A and B) and (Block C) at the rear of 39-44 James Street with access from Grand Canal Place. The excavation uncovered archaeological activity that ranged from medieval agriculture to eighteenth and nineteenth century industrial, most notable in Block C. Part of a nineteenth century tannery was excavated in the southern half of Block B. There were no features of archaeological significance in Block A and the rest of Block B. The medieval deposits on site consisted mainly of garden soils proving that the area was under cultivation from the thirteenth century. There is a lack of post-medieval features. The earliest industrial features on the site are linear tanning related pits. Two tan yards and a later bell foundry, all dating to the eighteenth-nineteenth century were excavated. A kiln, casting house, furnace and casting pits were also recorded. Finds included pottery, clay pipes, glass, floor and roof tiles, bottle-stoppers, gamming pieces, bone objects, leather, textiles, metal finds and lead shot.

• Archival History ↴

  Transferred by Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd. To Dublin City Archives, 16 October 2009

• Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

  Donation