County: Kilkenny Site name: RIVER NORE, Kilkenny
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0909
Author: Ian W. Doyle, for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 650489m, N 656553m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.657815, -7.253710
A key element of the River Nore (Kilkenny City) Drainage Scheme is the dredging and widening of the Nore at Kilkenny city. This entails the construction of a haul road or driving track on either side of the River Nore, from which material can be dredged and removed from the bed. The haul road also serves as a level platform from which sheet-pile walls can be erected to form new flood-defence walls.
Given the well-attested archaeological content of Irish river gravels, it has been essential to maintain an archaeological presence during the creation of the haul roads in Kilkenny. At the time of writing (February 2003), the haul road on the east bank from John’s Bridge to College Park has been completed. A second haul road has been completed on the west bank, from the upstream side of John’s Bridge to Green’s Bridge. An archaeological presence was maintained on the haul road during construction. This consisted of one or more archaeologists watching the dredging of river gravels and the dispersal of the gravels into a level surface. Washing of the river gravels by pump or with water from the machine bucket improved visibility.
To date, a considerable quantity of artefactual material has been recovered. This includes a small quantity of Mesolithic flint, a small amount of medieval pottery and metalwork, and large quantities of late medieval stone architectural fragments. A large assemblage of post-medieval pottery and glass was also recovered.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
