County: Kilkenny Site name: KILKENNY: Abbey St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 95E0044
Author: Sarah McCutcheon
Site type: Town defences
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 650739m, N 655643m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.649615, -7.250156
In advance of redevelopment, a test investigation was undertaken to determine the nature, extent and depth of archaeological stratigraphy present. This was carried out between 13 February and 3 March.
The site is in the parish of St Mary's and lies at the extreme north-west of the medieval city. It is bounded to the west and north by the city wall. Beyond the south-west corner of the site an extant medieval arch marks the entry point to the city along Abbey St.
Trenches were excavated extending from boundary to boundary north-south and east-west; further trenches were opened along the line of the city wall. The northern portion of the site appears to have been the recipient of a large quantity of introduced soil that points to its use for cultivation/horticulture over a prolonged period of time. Beneath this level was a definite medieval horizon that overlay the naturally deposited strata. While this horizon is securely dated by pottery evidence, no distinct archaeological features, apart from the city wall, were uncovered. Some of the southern portion of the site was made-up ground, post-medieval in date. The south-west corner, however, contained an east-west stone wall which pre-dated the extant city wall and which had been reduced in antiquity. This wall was covered by a layer of silt which yielded medieval pottery.
The city wall to the north was faced on both sides above ground. Towards present-day ground level it had been roughly re-faced. Trenches excavated against the wall revealed the original southern face. It would appear that the wall had been reduced by c. 1m in height and that there had originally been a wall-walk. The complete width of the wall was c. 1.4m. The wall was constructed of undressed limestone blocks, roughly coursed to uncoursed and bonded with buff/yellow mortar. The interior of the wall was loose rubble composed of mortar and smaller stones. A piece of Saintonge green-glazed pottery was found embedded in the mortar of the wall, indicating a possible date of construction in the 13th century. The city wall to the west was reduced and the later wall built on top of it was flush with the underlying east face. The total width (1.2m) of the city wall was exposed in the trench at the south-west corner of the site. A full architectural survey of the walls was undertaken by Ben Murtagh.
Brook Lodge, Castlebernard, Bandon, Co. Cork
