2000:0543 - KILKENNY: Maudlin Street, Kilkenny

Excavation took place between 10 April and 5 May 2000 in advance of a proposed apartment block development. The site is at the western corner of Maudlin Street, on the northern side, within the medieval suburb of St John’s on the north bank of the River Nore. The site lies directly on the line of the medieval town ditch for the suburb, close to John’s Gate Outer and St John’s Priory.

Prior assessment (Excavations 1998, 117–18) and a full building survey of upstanding remains revealed the line of the town ditch running east–west across the site, to the north of Maudlin Street, sealed by later, post-medieval occupation and a number of 18th-, 19th- and early 20th-century houses and stables. Excavation involved lowering the ground level of surviving archaeology to allow for a buffer of hardcore between the preserved lower levels of archaeology and a raft foundation for the development. The proposed carpark and turning space, to rear of the site, did not intrude into archaeological levels.

Excavation of an area measuring 16.5m east–west by 10m, in the south-west corner of the site up against the street frontage, was undertaken for the footprint of the development. The location of the medieval ditch was identified, curving across the site and aligned approximately east–west across the excavation area, measuring 6m in width and 1.45m in depth. The ditch contained a number of sandy, redeposited or weathered natural primary fills and dark clays containing medieval pottery, metal artefacts, animal bone and a decorated floor tile. The partially backfilled ditch appeared to have been dry and open for a long period.

During the 17th century the ditch was backfilled and sealed by a uniform layer of mid-brown clay containing clay pipe, bone and pottery. This may relate to the Cromwellian siege of the city and subsequent partial dismantling of Kilkenny’s defences. The site appeared to have been waste ground for a decade or so after this and was peppered by fourteen medium to large circular or oval rubbish pits, also containing post-medieval assemblages, with a few containing later, early modern assemblages.

Around the early 18th century (before 1758), a range of stone-built houses and stables were constructed on the street frontage and to the rear or the site. These were adapted and remodelled as a terrace of houses, which remained in use until the late 20th century, when the site was in use as a painter’s yard, with associated prefabricated sheds.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin