EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Dublin
Eleventh Century (Fig. 113)
Excavations demonstrate that High Street was settled during the early eleventh century which pushed
occupation in the town further west (see below). Halpin (2005, 107–9) argues that the earthen wall
identified beneath the town wall at Lamb Alley is Hiberno-Scandinavian and may date to the eleventh
century. He suggests that the eleventh century enclosure ran along the line of Lamb Alley although
he is cognisant of the fact that excavation has, of yet, not conclusively revealed its location. The
remaining banks to the north, east and south followed the earlier tenth century lines.
Twelfth Century (Fig. 114)
By the early twelfth century, the enclosing earthen banks of Dublin had been replaced by a stone
wall. It appears, based on the evidence from Essex Gate/Parliament Street, Wood Quay, Ross Road
and possibly Lamb Alley, that the enclosing wall was built along and utilised the earthen bank.
Therefore, the town’s size did not increase until the arrival of the Anglo-Normans later in the century.
DEFENCES
Ninth Century
The mid to late ninth century banks in Dublin were not defensive in nature and functioned primarily
as floodbanks. Excavations at Fishamble Street revealed a series of nine banks running along the
south side of the River Liffey. The earliest banks were low – approximately 1m high – and were nondefensive
and probably functioned as flood banks (Wallace 1992b, 44). These appear similar to the
ninth century floodbanks below and may date to the middle or later part of the century.
Evidence for a bank survived at Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street in the north-eastern area of
the settlement (Gowen with Scully 1996, 11). It was probably 0.8m high and 3.7m wide and acted as
a barrier to the Poddle which flowed immediately to the east.
Another bank was identified close by at Essex Street West (Simpson 1999, 14). It ran parallel to the
River Liffey and was made from clay and strengthened with wattle screens.
A bank (excavated by the National Museum of Ireland) – predating the early tenth century – was
identified on the south side of the town at Ross Road. It was 3.6m wide and 0.8m in height and was
located 10m further north of the early tenth century bank excavated in 1993 (Walsh 2001, 96). The
bank was positioned on the crest of a steep slope and would have overlooked the Poddle. The
dimensions are similar to the Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street bank which suggests that
Dublin was enclosed from the middle ninth century.
The partial remains of an early bank were also detected to the south of the settlement at Werburgh
Street. It contained a slot trench, measured at least 3m wide and 0.75m in height and has been
dated to the late ninth or early tenth century based on its association with the Ross Road banks
(Hayden 2002, 47, 66). This bank, therefore, may be linked with the Ross Road and Exchange Street
Upper/Parliament Street banks and may represent another point of the settlement’s early enclosure.
It also raises the possibility that the earliest defences are approximately 15m further north of the
currently accepted settlement defences at Ship Street Little (Simpson 2008, 155–6).
Tenth Century
Bank 2 at Fishamble Street was built along the high water line. It was bonded in mud and a cobbled
pathway was present inside and parallel to the bank along its eastern stretch (Wallace 1992b, 44–5).
This is likely to relate to the tenth century banks at Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street and
Ross Road.
Excavations in the Parliament Street, Essex Gate and Exchange Street Upper areas – in the northeastern
section of the town – revealed tenth and eleventh century banks (Scally 2002). A potential
early tenth century bank was identified directly east of Exchange Street Upper. It was 0.5m high and
1.8m wide and was non-defensive (Scally 2002, 16).
A number of banks were identified at Ross Road dating between the tenth and twelfth centuries in
the southern part of the town (Walsh 2001). Bank 1, which has been dated to the early tenth
century, was 2.5m wide and 0.45m high and may have had a pathway along its top. This was
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