48 New Street, Dublin 8
Antoine Giacometti

An extensive tanning and leather-working complex dating from the 12th to the 17th century was uncovered at 48 New Street. The site was excavated in late 2004, in advance of a mixed use development by Sherborough Enterprises.

The earliest evidence on the site dated to the late 12th and early 13th century, but it was not until the later 13th century that strong evidence for leather production (tanning) was found. Shallow ditches formed plot boundaries that were probably associated with houses on New Street, and tanning pits were found in each of the plots. A large ditch that carried diverted water from the Poddle River to serve the tanners formed the backs of the plots.

Tanning continued into the early post-medieval period (c.16th century). The manufacturing of leather shoes was carried out in one of the plots. Coiled tubes made of gold were found near the shoes, and these might have been chapes to bind the end of shoelaces.

In the early 17th century tanning pits continued to be dug and used with no change in the shape or size of them from the medieval period. In one of the plots leather production slowed down, and a small structure with a fireplace was constructed. Several of the small ditches had silted up by this time, and the large ditch that diverted part of the Poddle fell into disuse, possibly as a result of legislation to clean up and improve the flow of the river.

Many of the tanning pits were in-filled in the late 17th century and beginning of the 18th century. The small structure with a fireplace was knocked down and rebuilt on a larger scale. By the sixth phase, dating to the 18th century, the medieval plot boundaries had become stone and brick walls or laneways. One of the laneways is marked on a map of the period as ‘Swifts Alley’. Wells and outhouses were built to serve the houses along New Street. Although the site has been extensively re-levelled and altered since medieval times, it is possible, even today, in the layout of modern buildings and lanes around the site, to identify some of the original tanning household plots dating back to the medieval period.