What is recorded here

Beneath Mary Street, two metres of dark clay held charcoal, ash and animal bones, waiting for Celie O'Rahilly to uncover them. The medieval Englishtown had buried its ordinary life under layers of time, preserving traces of hearths and meals without naming the hands that made them. When the cuttings opened, the street stopped being merely stone and became a chamber where forgotten hunger, warmth and labour could be imagined again.

Site excavated by Celie O'Rahilly under licence No. 97E0097 on Mary Street the result of which were summarised as following; 'The site, located within the medieval walled part of the Englishtown on the south-western side of Mary Street (referred to as High Street in the medieval period), was tested in advance of development. Previous assessment had been carried out in June 1995 (Excavations 1995, 55, 95E0120). Four additional cuttings, placed within the area of the proposed development, were opened following the demolition of the row of house Nos 22-24. To avoid confusion with the previous work these have been numbered 4-7. Two cuttings, 4 and 5, both fronting onto Mary Street, each contained a deposit of possible archaeological potential. In Cutting 4, at a depth of 1.65m below the street level, was a layer of mixed black soil, 0.25m thick. In Cutting 5 was a 0.7m-thick deposit of soft, damp, dark mixed clay, with charcoal, ash, animal bone and a few oyster shells. This occurred at a depth of 2.2m below street level. No finds were recovered from either deposit. Two walls, in Cuttings 4 and 7, coincided with the walls of the houses marked on the 1840 OS map' (www.excavations.ie). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 28 November 2019

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