1999:444 - KILKENNY: James's Street, Kilkenny

Limited excavation was carried out at a site fronting on to James's Street, Kilkenny, between 12 and 15 January 1999. An archaeological assessment carried out in 1998 by Paul Stevens (Excavations 1998, 116, 98E0427) had identified a number of potential medieval features. As the foundations of the proposed development would be interfering with the known level of archaeology, only the extreme northern portion of the site, a small area measuring 16m east-west by 2m, was excavated. Because the foundation for the proposed building would be very shallow, a number of identified archaeological features were left in situ as they were situated well below the required 0.4m buffer zone. The remains of a limestone and red brick wall in the western half of the cutting were left in situ, as it extended north under the footpath.

The earliest phase of activity on the site comprised two large pits cutting the natural subsoil. The westernmost pit, sealed under a thick layer of redeposited natural, was filled with sub-spherical cobbles and yielded a single sherd of Saintonge pottery. Most of this pit and the redeposited natural were left in situ. The other pit, found roughly in the centre of the area excavated and extending north under the road, was filled with a dark, silty clay, animal bone and Anglo-Norman pottery.

In the eastern portion of the cutting a series of features indicating likely structural activity was identified and excavated. A linear wall trench orientated east-west measured 7.7m by 0.4–0.6m. It varied between 0.2m and 0.25m deep and was filled with a loose mix of heavy clay and medium-sized to large cut stone and cobbles. It yielded animal bone, charcoal and a few sherds of Anglo-Norman pottery. A number of deposits, consisting of intervening layers of clay and thin spreads of charcoal, were confined to the area north of the wall trench and extended north beyond the limit of excavation. These layers yielded no finds but contained small quantities of animal bone and oyster shell. It is likely that these deposits were contemporary with the wall trench and indicate the remains of flooring and/or occupational debris. Another wall trench, parallel and likely contemporary to that already described, was identified in the north-facing section but was not excavated.

A large pit in the western end of the site, cutting the redeposited natural, was filled with a loose deposit of small stones and organic material, which yielded some animal bone, charcoal and oyster shell, in addition to a few sherds of Anglo-Norman pottery and a single piece of worked bone. This pit and the structural features identified to the east were sealed by thick layers of medieval and then post-medieval garden soil.

Cloonfad Cottage, Leitrim Village, Co. Roscommon