1996:199 - NAAS: New Courthouse, Kildare

A watching brief was carried out at the rear of a proposed extension to the courthouse in Naas, Co. Kildare, between 8 and 12 July 1996. Four trenches opened during the preliminary archaeological assessment carried out on 2 November 1995 indicated the presence of medieval soils, and three sherds of thirteenth/fourteenth-century pottery were recovered. As a result, a post-demolition watching brief was undertaken by Dermot Nelis to establish the extent and nature of below-ground remains.

The results indicated that the area had been extensively disturbed in recent times to a depth of 2.5m. Archaeological deposits were recorded in situ in a number of areas at a depth of between 1.6m and 2.1m below recent ground level but had been badly disturbed by the construction of the courthouse, some walls and sewerage/drainage pipe runs.

No in situ archaeological remains were discovered in the upper 1. 5m of material exposed. Gravelly clay fill recorded was interpreted as redeposited medieval soils and two sherds of medieval pottery were retrieved.

The watching brief determined the extent of the archaeological presence on the site and confirmed the previous large-scale removal of an original medieval horizon, with only very little remaining in situ. The absence of structural remains and the small quantity of pottery retrieved suggest that the medieval archaeological deposits that did survive on the site represent a cultivated ‘garden’ soil with no clear evidence of habitation.