2000:0547 - KILKENNY: 33 Patrick Street, Kilkenny

An area measuring 13m north–south by 7m was excavated in advance of construction. The development was to take place to the rear of a Georgian building now in use as a hotel. To this extent, a relatively modern extension and bank vault were demolished. An extensive excavation by Judith Carroll had previously been carried out adjacent to this site (Excavations 1998, 120–1), with this additional work demanded by changes in building design.

The site was characterised by large, deep pits (as is typical of urban medieval sites), which served many different functions: some were purely for the deposition of domestic waste, others were associated with various industrial processes, and, inevitably, there were also cesspits.

The industrial activity appears to have been largely confined to the northern half of the site, where some very large pits were evident. There also appear to have been at least two small drying kilns, or similar up-draught features, as well as evidence for iron-working, as several deposits in the northern half of the site contained iron slag and other, related industrial debris.

Also in the northern half were large pits filled with cobbles, similar to others excavated in the surrounding area, which were interpreted as ‘soak-aways’. These were pits that had drainage channels running into them, where water could easily permeate through the stones and ‘soak away’ into the natural gravel and sand that underlies much of this part of the city. It is possible that a couple of these drainage channels originally survived on this site and were situated at the extreme northern end, although these were heavily disturbed by a series of intercutting pit features.

Along the southern edge of the site, a number of large intercutting cesspits were excavated, all of which were rich in organic content and contained occasional wood and Sphagnum moss. Interspersed around these pits were several smaller pits, containing mostly domestic refuse.

Immediately to the north, but still within the southern half of the site, were two oblong pit features of as yet unknown function. They lay perpendicular to one another and may have intercut slightly. Both were of similar dimensions, shapes of sides etc. The fills were mainly clay in nature and represent either the dumping or slumping of material from one particular side. It is possible that these features were used to contain water for long periods of time, as the deposits were increasingly silty towards the base. Also, a rectangular stone-lined pit lay to the east of these two features, which had evidence for one and possibly two later timber linings. It was very similar to a feature truncated by the western section edge in the northern half of the site, and these features may also represent water containers of some sort.

There was no evidence, in either half of the site, for any features directly associated with dwellings, despite the fact that Patrick Street retains the line of a medieval street (continuing into Pudding Lane). It is likely, therefore, that any such dwellings were situated further to the east, along the present street-front.

Editor’s note: The summary of this excavation, which was carried out during 1999, arrived too late for publication in the bulletin of that year.

Ballytrisnane, Old Parish, Co. Waterford