County: Kilkenny Site name: KILKENNY: Banks of the River Breagagh, Gardens
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 19:26 Licence number: 00E0406 ext.
Author: Paul Stevens, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 650139m, N 656163m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.654343, -7.258941
Testing of the banks of the River Breagagh was initially carried out in September and October 2000 (Excavations 2000, No. 535). Additional work was undertaken in April 2001 (Excavations 2001, No. 714) and again in August 2002. Work was carried out before construction of the River Breagagh section of the River Nore (Kilkenny City) Drainage Scheme. The development involves the lowering of the riverbed, with additional selective widening of the river, and the installation of gabion walls and sheet piles.
Trench RB-9 was excavated along the left bank of the River Breagagh, against the river wall, and 23m north-east of Trench RB-3. The trench was dug to assess an area of riverbank marked on the 1839–42 OS map as a ‘Corn Kiln’. Two floors and rooms were revealed: an eastern room with stone partition wall and cobbled surface leading to the doorway, through the river wall, and a western room with a paved floor (at a slightly higher level) and truncated concrete partition wall, extending back from the river wall. The northern section of the test-trench was severely truncated by a concrete foundation pad for the existing carpark and apartment development. The eastern room dated to the early 19th century, and the western to the 20th century. Further excavation of the cobbled floor was recommended and undertaken under a separate licence (see No. 1016, Excavations 2002, 02E1370).
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
