Arran Street East (Church and Graveyard)

Arran Street East (Church and Graveyard). . Information Panel 1 , Arran Street East (Church and Graveyard) , See Panel 2 on Little Mary Street and inside the Ruby hotel and restaurant, The History of the Abbey , St Mary’s Abbey was founded as a daughter house to the Savigniac Order of French Benedictine origin. St Mary’s became a Cistercian House after the Order adopted Cistercian rule in 1147. The archaeological work recorded an early burial dating to c. 1100 suggesting that the monastery was built on an existing earlier medieval church. The abbey was demolished after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540 by Henry VIII. Its buildings were dismantled and much of the stone would have been reused in other architectural projects. As the city expanded in the 17th and 18th century, the former abbey was absorbed into the urban development around Capel Street and the Fruit Markets. Stone from the abbey that survived on the site were salvaged to build the walls of Georgian property plots., The Church and Graveyard of St Mary’s Abbey , This is the site of St Mary’s Abbey founded in AD 1139, the most powerful and influential Cistercian monastic foundation in Ireland until it was shut down in 1539 during the Dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. It was originally founded as a daughter house of the Benedictine Order of Savigny but it became a Cistercian House after the Order adopted the Cistercian rule in 1147. The monastic quadrangle was set around a cloister, with the church forming the northern range and the Chapter House being in the eastern range, which still survives in a basement of a 19th-century building on Meeting House Lane, to the south. An archaeological excavation was carried out in 2021–2 before the Ruby Hotel was built and this revealed the location of the church and graveyard, both of which have been preserved under the new hotel. Surprisingly, the investigations in the graveyard found one grave that appears to pre-date the foundation of the monastery, perhaps suggesting there was an earlier graveyard on this site., , The Abbey Graveyard , The Abbey graveyard was found to be positioned on the northern side of the church but appears to have been completely built over by c. 1600, after the dissolution of the monastery. As with many monastic graveyards, the graves were found to include male and female adults of all ages and also children, possibly reflecting the burial, not just of the monks, but of the wider lay community living around the Abbey. However, those burials found within the footprint of the church are most likely to be the monks and high-status patrons. , Scientific analysis of the skeletal remains has revealed the majority of adults died young, between 25 to 35 years of age with few surviving over 45 years of age. The skeletons also reveal how harsh medieval life was, with evidence of people suffering from dental disease, trauma, infections, and conditions such as tuberculosis, syphilis and gouty arthritis. Periods of disease and malnutrition were not uncommon in childhood, leading to illnesses like scurvy and anaemia, which could affect growth and this may be reflected on this site as the average height of the adults was found to be slightly below normal for the time (men 169.5cm or 5ft 5½ inches tall and women 158.5cm or 5ft 2 inches tall). , There was also evidence of medical care, where fractures had been set and head trauma healed. But the evidence of severe disabling conditions such as advanced spinal arthritis, speaks of the compassion within the Abbey community, where care and attention were paid to the sick and dying. The skeletal analysis also points to a vibrant working population within this bustling quarter of Medieval Dublin, demonstrated in various ways including skeletal wear patterns on teeth that hint at their use as tools or a ‘third hand’ in leather, wool and textile processing, and also evidence of Weaver’s Bottom, a type of bursitis, caused by long periods of sitting on hard surfaces., The Discovery of the Abbey Church on Arran Street East , Prior to the archaeological excavation in 2021–2, the location, character, and physical size of the Abbey was not clearly understood. The only clue was the known location of the Chapter House on Meeting House Lane. This unique structure is a National Monument., The most significant finding of the excavation was that it pinpointed the location of the church and graveyard within the modern urban block, knowledge that had been hidden for centuries. The discoveries include the western end of the church wall foundations and the core of the cemetery, along with other features in the north-west corner of the Abbey. The church foundations are of particular importance and all were preserved under the foundations of the new hotel by an innovative engineering design, carried out under archaeological supervision., Medieval church wall foundations with high-status burials within the church porch , Three main phases of church building were identified during the archaeological investigations, beginning with a stone church dating to c. 1200, which was later replaced by a more substantial church in c. 1300. The final building phase involved the construction of a western porch, which formed part of a later medieval facade at the church door, which included two flanking towers. , A high-status stone-lined grave was discovered in front of the west porch of the church and this is also on display under the glass panel in the restaurant of the hotel. This is orientated east / west in the Christian tradition, with the head securely placed between two re-used stones from Dundry near Bristol. The remains were those of a robust adult male and the position of the burial within the church suggests this individual was either a high-status cleric or a wealthy lay patron buried in a prominent location. , A section of the church wall is on display under a glass panel and can be viewed in the restaurant of the hotel.