During excavations carried out in 1996, archaeologists uncovered the south-east corner foundations of a large stone building at the northern end of a site in Dublin's south city, the remains standing less than 0.4 metres in height and extending westward beneath Cecilia House. It is the kind of discovery that quietly reframes a familiar streetscape.

According to the excavation report published by Simpson in 1997, these foundations most likely belong to one of the mansions constructed in the area around 1600. That period saw considerable development along the southern fringes of the medieval city, as wealthy merchants and civic figures began building substantial stone residences just beyond the older urban core. Such mansions were typically large, well-appointed structures that reflected the prosperity and ambitions of late Elizabethan and early Jacobean Dublin, a city that was expanding and consolidating its commercial identity at the time. The fact that these foundations have survived at all, buried and compressed beneath centuries of subsequent construction, is a reminder of how layered urban ground can be.

The site is not accessible to the public in any formal sense, and the foundations themselves are not on display. Cecilia House, beneath which part of the remains extend, sits in an area of the south city that repays a slow walk, particularly for anyone interested in how medieval and early modern street patterns have shaped the present-day urban fabric. The archaeology here is invisible from street level, but knowing it exists changes the quality of attention you bring to the place. For those who want to follow up, Simpson's 1997 report is the primary source and gives a precise account of what was found and where.