County: Westmeath Site name: KILKENNY WEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 23:23 Licence number: 01E0203
Author: Anne Carey, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: Structure
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 611387m, N 749056m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.491399, -7.828399
The development site was in an area of known archaeological significance, beside the ruined remains of a tower-house (SMR 23:23), and near a church and an abbey (SMR 23:25 and 23:26). Although testing had been recommended by Dúchas in December 2000, the development was granted planning permission without any archaeological condition attached. At the time of testing in March 2001, the dwelling-house was fully built, and all groundworks and landscaping associated with the development had been completed. Following the submission of a further planning application by the developer, for the retention of a small leisure complex at the northern end of the site, the matter came to the attention of Dúchas. An earlier assessment had been carried out by Kieran Campbell in 1996, and the stone foundation of a structure possibly associated with the tower-house had been found (Excavations 1996, No. 393, 96E0094).
A single trial-trench was opened by mechanical excavator some 1.5m north of the foundation line of the proposed leisure complex. A rough stone wall was exposed at a depth of 0.65m below ground level. It measured 1m in width and was composed of medium-sized to large unhewn stones bound together with a yellowish-white lime mortar. The wall was oriented north-east/south-west and had a rough facing of stones on the western side, which had a depth of 0.7m. A reliable facing could not be ascertained on the eastern side of the wall, nor was it possible to identify a cut for the wall.
The discovery of the mortared remains of a wall or a wall footing corresponds with the initial testing on the site. The structural remains revealed in Trench 1 appear to form part of a greater archaeological feature, possibly related to the tower-house, as the north-east/south-west orientation of the subsurface remains agrees with that of the tower-house. However, no finds were recovered from the trench, and therefore no date can be put forward on the basis of artefacts in association with the mortared wall. It was recommended that no future groundworks take place in the vicinity of the site, or the area immediately north of the site, without prior consultation with Dúchas.
Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway
