2002:1025 - KILKENNY: 101 Patrick Street, Kilkenny

Testing before a planning application for redevelopment at 101 Patrick Street, Kilkenny, was carried out. Five trenches were excavated by machine. The site is in an extramural location in the parish of St Patrick, centred on the site of the former church and existing graveyard, which is to the south-east.

The fills of Trenches 1–3 were broadly similar, consisting of a substantial layer of topsoil sitting on top of natural clay-and-gravel subsoil. Trench 4 was excavated onto clay natural at a depth of 0.4m (16.489m OD). The fill was topsoil and undisturbed subsoil. A small platform of cut stones, with a centrally positioned piece of iron projecting from the top, was observed on the surface in Trench 4. To the immediate south of the stone, just below the humic layer, was a large, roughly circular stone (1.6m in maximum diameter, with a centrally positioned circular stone c. 0.3m wide), similar to a 19th-century millstone, again with a projecting piece of metal. Local information holds that some sort of forge or smithy operated here until the mid-20th century; these stone features are probably associated with this. Trench 5 produced a similar profile to those of the previous trenches, except for a cut into the subsoil, 1.6m deep and 2m wide, at the southern end of the trench. This had been backfilled with rubble and used as a foundation for a stone-built structure in the south-west corner of the property. The wall seen in section corresponds with scarring in the standing west wall. The form of bonding and build of the wall are post-medieval; fragments of 19th-century brick were recovered from the rubble fill of the foundation cut. It is probable that this feature was contemporary with the industrial activity in the rear of the yard.

47 North Main Street, Youghal, Co. Cork