Recent archaeological excavations at the former SS church of St Michael and John have finally unraveled the last mysteries of the Smock alley theatre, the first post Restoration purpose-built theatre in Europe. The foundation stone was laid in 1662, by John Ogilby, Master of the Revels, and, despite a collapse in 1671 and 1701, and a ‘rebuilding in 1735’, it remained the most important theatre in Dublin until it closed its doors in 1788, claiming the title of ‘Theatre Royal’ for much of this period. The first play performed was Fletcher’s ‘wit without money’ and the succeeding historical records, which document the great characters involved, the students riots and general intrigue, provide a social history of Dublin society when theatre was an integral part of the life of all city dwellers.
In the mid 1990s, the church of SS Michael and John formed part of a complex of buildings, which were being redeveloped, the church having been deconsecrated previously. During this work, archaeological investigations revealed that the entire church structure was actually the Smock Alley theatre, from basement to roof level, an extraordinary discovery (Simpson 1996). The stripping of the plaster associated with the church exposed earlier windows, doors, and fireplaces, which could be identified as the Smock Alley theatre, and compared directly to the only known elevation of the theatre, dated to 1789. Thus, although the theatre was reputedly demolished in the early 19th century to make way for the church, it was clearly was not and, instead, was rather cleverly re-used or recycled. This involved blocking up the windows and doors, taking of the roof, inserting a fine plaster ceiling, and replacing the original roof and parapet on top. Brick burial vaults were also inserted, the north-south foundations walls of which were uncovered during the excavation.
The recent excavations took place in the interior of the building and this has further advanced our knowledge and understanding of the building sequence on this narrow plot of land. Unexpectedly, the remains of the very first brick theatre (1662), which collapsed in 1670, were found underlying the standing remains. The brick theatre fronted onto Essex Street West or Smock Alley and measured at least 14m long (north-south) by 12m wide. The walls were of well-made orange brick and the theatre appears to have been rectangular in shape. The floor was of mortar and limestone small flags and the walls were between 0.80m and 1.50m in width by 0.30m in height. Only the very foundations were exposed.
This early theatre was replaced by second theatre built of limestone, the main internal feature of which was two large curving horse-shoe shaped walls, which originally supported the galleries. These were massive walls, which were between 0.80m and 1.10m in width and over 1.50m in depth, cut deep in reclamation layers along the banks of the Liffey. The upstanding theatre, which measures 31.50m in length (north-south by) by 13m in width, has two distinct phases, defined by a difference between the windows at basement level and first floor level. The exact relationship between the standing building and the curving walls awaits further research.
For now, the internal theatre walls have all been carefully backfilled with a protective membrane and covered in stone, and a temporary floor has been laid. This is to enable the building to function again as the Smock alley, the first play of which (at the Dublin Fringe festival) has already occurred. The plan, however, is to faithfully re-instate the Smock alley theatre in the future.
References
Simpson Linzi 1996 Smock Alley: the evolution of a building. Temple Bar Archaeological Report No. 3. Dublin Simpson Linzi 2003 ‘Dublin Smock alley theatre: lost and found’ in Lost and found: discovering Ireland’s past Joe Fenwick (ed.) 287-300. Wicklow.
