County: Kilkenny Site name: KILKENNY: St Mary’s etc., River Nore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0303
Author: Niall Brady, for the Archaeological Diving Company Ltd.
Site type: Pier/Jetty
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 650691m, N 656013m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.652944, -7.250808
Underwater and associated dryland excavation, as part of the River Nore Flood Alleviation Scheme, examined a variety of small sites under this licence. A stone jetty feature on Bateman’s Quay revealed the dilapidated remnants of an 18th/19th-century structure that consisted of a series of stone steps leading down to the water’s edge from a small paved area. The paving was concealed under modern overburden that was put down during construction of the current riverbank area. Within the river, a mass of short timber posts was arrayed around the foot of the steps and presumably supported a small platform. This jetty feature is similar to that being excavated by Paul Stevens, and would have occupied an end-of-garden location for the properties that formerly stood here.
Four underwater trenches were opened within the riverbed in locations that were inaccessible to machinery, two upstream and two downstream of John’s Bridge. The excavation work proceeded well, and foremost among the trenches was that opened across the river channel immediately downstream of the bridge. A pair of rapier foils were recovered, and various fragments of dislodged masonry from the ruined bridges were identified.
2 Vale Terrace, Lower Dargle Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow
