2002:0966 - NAAS: Burkes Pharmacy, 3 Main Street, Kildare

Small-scale excavations were conducted on the site. They revealed medieval and early post-medieval deposits behind the buildings on the street front. These deposits suggest the presence of a late medieval building (c. AD 1300), where partial evidence of a house floor and hearth were uncovered. The superstructure of the building was fashioned from timber, as no masonry remains were identified on the old ground surface (1.6m below present ground level). The occupation level was followed by evidence of cultivation. The cultivation was identified by the presence of garden soils dating from the medieval to the early post-medieval period. This deposit sequence was followed by later, cobbled occupation surfaces, indicating the presence of a yard to the rear of the premises that fronted onto Main Street. A 19th-century deposit of cattle horn-cores suggests butchering activity in the early modern period. Given the lack of significant excavations of medieval habitation deposits in Naas, these excavations allow for some analysis of the models proposed by Thomas (1992, 170) for the growth and development of the town.

Pottery was the principal dating tool on-site and dated occupation from the 13th to the 18th century. Diagnostic pottery finds included a single sherd of Isabella polychrome ware dating from the 16th century. The sherd was retrieved from the basal deposits of the garden soil. Other diagnostic pottery types identified include Ham Green B and locally manufactured medieval jugs. A secure medieval date can be postulated for these types. This has established a framework for the settlement history of the archaeological deposits on-site and indicates that the earliest deposits, the house floor etc., date from the medieval period (c. AD 1300). These structures were then abandoned, and gardens were developed at the site. This was followed by the development of a series of cobbled yards (18th century), most likely associated with outbuildings up to the 19th century, where butchering was practised on the site.

The presence of a variety of seed types associated with medieval deposits (oat, wheat and barley) indicates the supply of cereal crops from outside the town; however, the identification of a charred pea associated with common weeds suggests that the garden soil may have been used for the production of vegetables. The evidence of meat consumption in the town (in spite of the small size of the bone assemblage) indicates that the same variety of meat-yielding animals were slaughtered as have been recognised in other towns and points to an established local economy geared to providing food for the inhabitants of Naas. The presence of the imported pottery from Britain (in the medieval period) and Spain (in the early post-medieval period) demonstrates wider trade connections, most likely via Dublin.

Many small archaeological excavations have been conducted in Naas over the past ten years. These have been carried out at both the northern and the southern end of the town, on either side of the ‘North Barrier’, an earthwork or wall that divides the medieval town in two. The placename ‘North Barrier’ implies an earthwork or wall on the northern side of a medieval settlement. The distinction between Main Street North and Main Street South is likely to derive from the existence of the ‘North Barrier’. Jim Higgins (Excavations 1998, No. 330, 98E0070) carried out limited excavations on the property adjacent to 3 Main Street (McDonalds Restaurant), where he identified clear evidence of early post-medieval deposits (c. AD 1550–1650). Clare Mullins (Excavations 1999, Nos 416–17, 99E0055) excavated a medieval pit at 19 Main Street North, although other evidence of archaeological activity was scant. At the southern end of the town, Finola O’Carroll (Excavations 1996, No. 196, 96E0124) identified part of the (13th–14th-century) earthen defensive ditch adjacent to Corban’s Lane and Gate. On the basis of the results of current excavated sites, medieval settlement had occurred on both sides of the ‘North Barrier’ by AD 1300. However, the presence of the ‘North Barrier’ implies sequential or staged development of the medieval town. The location of the market and the medieval parish church on the southern side of the ‘North Barrier’ suggests its primacy.

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

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