2001:698 - KILKENNY: Friary Street/Garden Row, Kilkenny

Introduction
Monitoring of a proposed development fronting Friary Street and Garden Row in Kilkenny City was carried out from January to December 2001. As a result, rescue excavations were conducted in February and March (under licence 97E0087) and in July (01E0569). The proposed development is a large four-storey complex of mixed residential and commercial units, with basement carpark, measuring 72m in length (east–west along Friary Street) and 29.5m in width, divided into Area 1 and Area 2.

Background
The site is within the area of archaeological potential for Kilkenny and close to the line of the city wall, within the 12th-century English Town or Hightown. Friary Street (formerly Walkin Street) was originally one of the main access roads into the medieval walled city. Walkin Gate was marked on Rocque’s map of 1758 at the junction of Friary Street and Garden Row, but was demolished in 1788 when Walkin Street was improved (Thomas 1992, 129). Garden Row was a medieval ‘sconce’ or vallum road, providing defenders of the city with access to the wall.

Testing by Edmond O’Donovan in 1997 revealed no evidence of medieval deposits, but a ‘garden layer’ was revealed together with a post-medieval clay floor (Excavations 1997, No. 296, 97E0087). Testing at No. 4 Friary Street by Thaddeus Breen revealed modern disturbance and recent brick and stone foundations. However, medieval pottery was discovered within a deep deposit and also in a disturbed context (Excavations 1997, No. 297, 97E0198). Testing and monitoring of a site at Garden Row by Martin Reid revealed post-medieval features, including a north–south drainage ditch and deep pits. These also produced medieval pottery (Excavations 1997, No. 298, 96E0385).

Results
A large number of medieval, post-medieval and modern features were revealed in both areas. Three phases of archaeological activity were identified from excavation. Phase 1: medieval; features associated with rear burgage plots extending to dwellings fronting Friary Street. Phase 2: late medieval/post-medieval; continued occupation of medieval plots, recorded in the 1654–5 Civil Survey. Phase 3: post-medieval/early modern; improvement of Friary Street, construction of dwellings and associated settlement, recorded on Rocque’s map of 1758.

Area 1
Excavation was undertaken across the south-eastern quarter and Friary Street frontage of Area 1, over an area 28m long (west of the eastern site boundary wall) by 18.5m wide. Features were densely concentrated in clusters of medieval and post-medieval urban occupation. This was grouped into four east–west medieval ‘burgage’ plots, respected by later post-medieval and modern building. Medieval features (dating from the 13th century onwards) were sealed below a garden soil, whereas post-medieval features (dating from after the mid-16th century) cut the garden soil to the south, east and middle of Area 1.

Medieval features included a corn-drying kiln lined with flagstones and a clay base containing preserved burnt chaff and a burnt wattle and daub cover. There were also several linear burgage boundary gullies and perpendicular ditches, wicker-lined pits, stone-lined pits or water-troughs, and post-holes, some with in situ burnt or preserved square wooden stakes or posts.

Post-medieval features included rectangular pits, linear north–south gullies and landscaping tree-plantation.

Finds recovered from this area included a medieval bronze ring-brooch, a medieval iron key, a small cannon ball, medieval and post-medieval pottery (from England and France, as well as Kilkenny-type ware and Leinster ware), animal bone and clay pipes (including a hoard of 17th-century Dutch stamped examples).

No evidence of houses in situ was noted, suggesting that the medieval street was to the south of its present orientation. Property boundary markers or ditches were dug and redug over time, representing a probable continuity of settlement and boundaries.

Elsewhere in Area 1, modern and early modern truncation had removed all or most of the archaeological material. The nature of this truncation consisted of ground reduction to the west, lowering the natural boulder clay by as much as 0.5m, early modern buildings and cellars to the north and north-east, and several large early modern pits intermittently spread out across the north-east, north and east of the area.

Area 2
Monitoring of construction in Area 2 was undertaken in piecemeal fashion owing to the nature of the development, and therefore a number of small areas were revealed at a time. This necessitated separate small excavations of isolated clusters of archaeological features occurring across the area. Area 2 measured 36.5m east–west by 28m in width to the south-west corner of the site (at the junction of Garden Row and Friary Street).

Excavation of Area 2 revealed the foundations of the terrace of 18th-century buildings that occupied the street frontage. Associated with these were contemporary and later concrete annexes, brick cellars, several large, square refuse-pits and one stone-lined well, as well as a number of landscaping tree bowls and wooden fence posts. Much of the natural and medieval ground surface was removed by this activity. However, where exposed it revealed only isolated features, consisting of small, heavily truncated medieval or post-medieval pits or post-holes.

Monitoring is nearing completion for this site, but may continue into the spring of 2002. No further mitigation of the archaeological material revealed in monitoring is required, as all features were either fully excavated under licence or preserved under the foundations of the development.

Reference
Thomas, A. 1992 Walled towns of Ireland. Dublin.

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