2002:0997 - GRAIGUENAMANAGH: Quay Street, Kilkenny

An assessment was carried out at a site at Quay Street, Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny. The site lies on the south side of the precinct of the Cistercian abbey of Duiske. Fragmentary remains of a number of abbey buildings, including part of the western range, survive in the northern half of the development site. The eastern boundary wall of the abbey precinct also survives, running north–south across the development site. An architectural assessment of the surviving upstanding structural remains was carried out separately.

Although the location of the proposed buildings lies immediately outside of the recognised bounds of the abbey precinct, the proposed carpark lies within it and would be bounded on the east by the surviving precinct wall.

The assessment was carried out in March 2002. An irregular trench had been opened on a roughly east–west axis across the southern half of the site, to the south of the recognised boundary of the abbey precinct, before archaeological advice had been sought. Two sections of this trench were cleaned back and recorded. No medieval material was identified, although there was considerable evidence of post-medieval industrial activity.

The first section of the trench to be investigated was in the south-east quadrant of the site. It had a maximum depth of 1.3m and was characterised by a series of layers of heavily oxidised material. The remains of a mortared stone structure were noted at the western end (C3), and stone rubble occurred regularly across both section faces. It was not feasible to excavate this section to the depth of natural geological strata. The central section of this area of the trench was characterised at the lowest levels by a series of layers of heavily oxidised material. These layers appeared to have large quantities of crystallised mineral deposits. It seems likely that this material is the result of salt processing carried out at the site in the 19th century. The mortared stone structure noted at the western end of this section appeared to be the remains of a circular vat relating to the salt processing. The limited investigation of the remains of the mortared stone structure suggests that it had a circular internal plan. The 19th-century maps of Graiguenamanagh consulted indicate the presence of a building on this part of the site labelled ‘Salt House’. C3 appeared to be the remains of a circular stone vat associated with this activity.

At the eastern end of this section of the trench were the remains of a cobble-and-flag surface that survived best on the north side of the trench. Both this surface and the oxidised layers were sealed by deposits of mixed rubble stone and oxidised clays. Overall, the material recorded from this section of the trench appeared to relate wholly to 19th-century industrial salt processing.

The second section of the trench investigated was in the south-west quadrant of the site. This section had a maximum depth of 0.9m and was characterised by a series of topsoil layers. Natural geological strata were encountered at a depth of c. 0.75m and were sealed by a layer of dark grey/brown, sandy clay (C17), which appeared to be the remains of an old topsoil horizon. A single sherd of post-medieval pottery was recovered from this layer. The foundations of one of the north–south mortared stone walls cut this layer on the west. Sealing C17 was a layer of red/brown sandy clay with very high quantities of gravel. This layer appeared to post-date the wall and may be the result of an episode of deliberate infilling. This layer was also characterised by pockets of mortar and was sealed by a layer of topsoil. In general the material recorded from this section of the trench appears to relate to post-medieval landscaping activity.

The northern two-thirds of the proposed development site is within the recognised boundary of the precinct of the Cistercian abbey of Duiske. The southern one-third lies immediately outside this precinct, although an early 19th-century plan of the remains of the abbey indicates that the eastern boundary wall may have extended south to the present street frontage, with the possibility that the south-west quadrant of the site lies within the abbey precinct. The two sections investigated of the east–west-oriented trench dug across the southern one-third of the site did not indicate the presence of medieval material or material that can be related to the abbey in this part of the site.

The section of the trench investigated in the south-east quadrant of the site indicated the presence of extensive material associated with industrial salt processing. This is consistent with the cartographic evidence for this part of the site dating to the 19th century. The section of the trench investigated in the south-west quadrant of the site revealed a series of topsoil layers and infilling activity, probably related to post-medieval landscaping.

The section faces along the entire length of the trench, as well as the general topsoil layer across the whole of the site, were characterised by high levels of stone rubble. Some of this material may relate to demolished post-medieval buildings. However, it is possible that some originated from buildings or structures that formed part of the abbey. Occasional dressed stones were noted.

The present quay structure dates to the 18th century, and before its construction the original riverbank was probably much nearer the abbey precinct, possibly within the bounds of the present development site. However, no indication of the location of the original riverbank was identified by this investigation. Although this may still be situated within the bounds of the present development, it clearly lies farther to the south of the areas investigated.

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