EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Dublin
probably not a floodbank – unlike similarly dated banks from this period – because it was situated
high above the Poddle. Therefore, it possibly functioned as a town boundary (Walsh 2001, 97–8).
A second bank was recorded at Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street and was stratigraphically
dated between the mid and late tenth century. It lay 14m closer to the river than the preceding bank
– possibly to reclaim further space – and was composed of compact stony clay that was laid on the
natural silt. It was 0.7m high and was between 3.1-3.7m in width (Gowen with Scully 1996, 15; Scally
2002, 17–21). It was probably constructed to increase the amount of space in the north-eastern part
of the town.
By the middle of the century, the first bank at Ross Road was replaced and this possibly relates to the
second bank at Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street (Walsh 2001, 98). A third bank, which
consisted of deposits of clay, silt, small stones and sods, was then placed over the previous bank
which had burnt down. A fence was erected on the northern part of the site along the crest of Bank
2. The burnt areas may relate to the historical accounts of the burnings of Dublin in AD 936 and 944
and a mid to late tenth century date has been suggested for its construction (Walsh 2001, 101–2).
Eleventh Century
At Fishamble Street, a considerable bank was constructed with gravel, stone and earth and was
reinforced with post-and-wattle screens (Wallace 1992b, 45). It was crowned with a palisade fence
and probably relates to the banks below at Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street and Ross Road.
A third bank was constructed at Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street but, unlike the previous
two which acted as floodbanks, this was a substantial and defensive enclosure. It had a maximum
width of 6.4m and was 1.2m high on the settlement side but was at least 2.3m in height on the
eastern riverfront side (Gowen with Scully 1996, 17; Scally 2002, 21–5). The bank was constructed
over Bank 2 and consisted of clays and much of the domestic waste, such as animal bone, from the
preceding occupational layers. Dates of AD 900-1150 and AD 960-1020 were retrieved from the
bank’s material and a date between the late tenth and early eleventh century has been favoured by
the excavator.
A similarly substantial bank at Ross Road – Bank 4 – replaced Bank 3 and was approximately 6m wide
and over 4m high. The bank was probably mounted by a palisade trench and its form remained the
same until the early twelfth century (Walsh 2001, 106). This bank formed the southern defence of the
town and was similar in scale to the roughly contemporary banks in the north and north-east at
Fishamble Street and Exchange Street Upper/Parliament Street respectively.
A section of a pre-Anglo-Norman bank was identified below the Powder Tower in Dublin Castle along
the south-eastern lines of the town. The bank was composed of clay and had a stone facing without
mortar. It was 2.7m high and 2.6m wide. A later bank – revetted with timber – was also identified
and consisted of refuse layers which were dumped over the earlier bank. These banks have been
dated to the tenth/eleventh centuries (Lynch and Manning 2001, 180, 182).
Twelfth Century
By the beginning of the twelfth century, a stone wall which was 1.5m wide and potentially up to 3.5m
in height, was built along the earlier earthen embankment at Fishamble Street. It had a rubble fill
with mortared stone facings and was not completely free standing (Wallace 1992b, 45). This wall is
very similar to the late Hiberno-Scandinavian walls found at Essex Gate, Parliament Street and Ross
Road (see below).
At Essex Gate and Parliament Street, in the north-eastern part of Hiberno-Scandinavian Dublin, a
substantial stretch of the defensive wall was detected (Scally 2002, 25–7). The wall, 1.48m high and
1.4m wide, was constructed with square and rectangular blocks, which were secured with mortar,
and had a rubble stone core. It was similar in form to the early twelfth century wall at Fishamble
Street and Ross Road and this has led to its suggested date based on morphological similarities
(Scally 2002, 27).
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