What is recorded here

Human skulls and domestic debris filled a wide ditch beside Castle Street, marking a crowded life lived in the shadow of Dublin Castle during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Earlier rectangular houses and unlined cesspits reached back to the tenth century, proving the area sustained neighbours long before the castle rose. The bones suggest death entered that neighbourhood as openly as birth, food and waste, while the ditch may have guarded the castle or simply contained the lives crowded against it.

Excavations in 1992 at 26-29 Castle Street and 20 Lord Edward Street uncovered archaeological deposits dated from the 13th -early 14th centuries. The latest feature uncovered was a ditch (Wth 4m, D3.2m) which may be part of a moat around Dublin Castle. It produced 14th century material as well as a number of human skulls. Evidence for domestic habitation in the form of post and wattle structures with associated floors were revealed. Finds included stick pins, arrowheads, knioves, needles and combs (Byrne, M, 1993, 18-19). Excavations on the same site in 1993 revealed earlier structures ranging from the 10th -13th century. All were rectangular in plan L8.2m, Wth 3.5m av. ). A large number of unlined cesspits were uncovered which produced a large range of faunal and botanical remains (Byrne, M, 1994, 15).

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