County: Kildare Site name: ARDREIGH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 35:32(01, 02) Licence number: 00E0156 ext.
Author: Hilary Opie, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure, Graveyard, Habitation site and Industrial site
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 668081m, N 693177m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.985008, -6.986096
A first season of excavation took place at Ardreigh, Co. Kildare, between mid-July and mid-December 2000 (Excavations 2000, No. 458), and a second between 12 March and 12 June 2001 (Excavations 2001, No. 597). A third season began on 23 September 2002 and is continuing.
The site lies 1.8km south of Athy, along the proposed route of the realignment of the L18 Athy–Carlow road. A stretch of land measuring c. 350m north–south by c. 17–20m is currently under excavation. This passes through the medieval borough of Ardreigh. There are four major components to the site.
Limited prehistoric occupation
This took the form of two large ditches running east–west across part of the site, one containing part of a lignite bracelet. After one of these ditches had been backfilled, several human cremation pits were dug into the upper level of fill. Several sherds of prehistoric pottery and quite a few flint flakes and tools have also been recovered across the site.
Early Christian graveyard
This season of excavation has concentrated largely on the graveyard aspect of the site. This occupies the northern end of the road-take and lies immediately to the east of a small walled graveyard. At the earliest levels of the graveyard site there appears to have been Early Christian activity. Some of the burials may be Early Christian, but of greater significance is the evidence of a kiln, pits, ditches, and possibly an ecclesiastical enclosure, pre-dating the bulk of the burial activity. Ardreigh is well documented as a medieval establishment, but until now there has been no evidence of an Early Christian establishment.
Medieval graveyard
Again, this season of excavation has concentrated largely on the excavation of the graveyard. There was a significant medieval presence on the site, with the remains of up to 1000 articulated and disarticulated burials being excavated from this phase of excavation alone. In the last two phases 200 had been excavated, with possibly 50–100 still to be removed. This will give a total assemblage of c. 1250–1300 burials. This probably represents several hundred years of Ardreigh’s population, with an assemblage that includes a mix of male and female, adult and sub-adult. They are nearly all extended supine inhumations aligned east–west with heads to the east. One individual was buried with the head to the west and appeared to be a sub-adult. Another was found prone, while several small shroud-pins and decorative pins have been found with other individuals. Overall, this assemblage is of major significance in terms of population studies.
Medieval settlement and industry
The area south of the graveyard produced substantial evidence of medieval settlement, agriculture and industry. Most of this was resolved over the first two seasons of excavation, although two further kilns have been excavated this year. One appears to have been a corn-drying kiln, and the other possibly a limekiln. Also discovered during this season was evidence of sand quarrying on the site. Ardreigh is on a broad ribbon of limestone gravel and sand, washed out of the retreating ice at the end of the Ice Age. The sand is of extremely high quality, excellent for both agriculture and industry, and appears to have been exploited for these various needs, with large tracts of sand removed from the area immediately to the south of the graveyard.
Excavation is expected to continue for several more weeks.
Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
