Saw this in the Irish Independant online today (free subscription to read paper): 300-year-old ruins to 'disappear' forever Or you can read the Indo's story here...
THE 300 year-old building unearthed in the middle of Dublin's O'Connell Street is to be covered over in concrete again.
After it is examined by archaeologists, recorded and photographed, the historic 1690 ruins - probably stables - will disappear forever.
Duchas, the State heritage service, and the Railway Procurement Agency said that it would not be incorporated into the new look O'Connell Street - and will shortly be encased in concrete.
The discovery, revealed in yesterday's Irish Independent, is not expected to delay the Luas project, according to project officials. Edward Bourke, archaeologist with Duchas National Monuments Service, said the objective was to retain as much of the find intact underground after the Luas power station is installed at the site. The Luas team, he said, has agreed to see if it is feasible to reduce the space needed for the power station to preserve as much of the find as possible.
However, Mr Burke said it would not be possible to keep the discovery on view as this would involve the construction of a viewing platform which could damage other adjacent archaeological underground artefacts.
The building which dates back to 1690, when the street was much narrower, is actually featured in a street map of the area called Rocque's Map of Dublin 1756.
The buildings stood on Drogheda St - before it became Sackville St and then O'Connell St - before they were cleared by the Wide Streets Commission to allow the street to be widened.
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