In 2003, excavations at a site in this part of the city uncovered something layered in the most literal sense: a series of pits connected to two buildings, sitting directly on top of deposits from the medieval period. It is the kind of find that does not announce itself dramatically but rewards attention, a quiet stratigraphic argument about who was here, and when.

The medieval deposits beneath those pits produced pottery that helps fix the site in time and in trade. Among the sherds recovered was Saintonge ware, a type of glazed ceramic produced in the Saintonge region of south-west France, around the town of Saintes. This pottery was widely exported from the twelfth century onwards and reached Ireland through the busy commercial networks that connected Dublin to Bristol, Bordeaux, and beyond. Its presence here is not unusual for medieval Dublin, but it is always significant: Saintonge ware tends to mark places where people of some means were living or working, and its recovery tells us that this particular patch of ground was active and connected during the medieval period. The overlying pits and buildings represent a later phase of occupation, suggesting the site continued to be used well after the medieval layers were sealed. The excavation details appear in the 2006 volume of Excavations, compiled by C. Baker.

The site itself is not publicly marked or signposted, and without specialist knowledge of the excavation archive there is little to see at ground level today. For those interested in following up, the Excavations database, maintained by WordWell and freely accessible online, holds the original report under the 2003 listings. The National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks and Kildare Street holds collections of medieval Dublin finds, including pottery of the Saintonge type, which gives useful context for understanding what was recovered here. Anyone with a serious interest in the archaeology of medieval Dublin's south city would do well to cross-reference this site with the broader excavation record, much of which was generated during the intensive development activity of the late 1990s and early 2000s.