County: Kilkenny Site name: JERPOINT ABBEY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E0249
Author: Patricia Lynch, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 655968m, N 640496m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.512974, -7.175450
Jerpoint Abbey, Thomastown, in the care of the Heritage Service, was flooded by surface water from an adjoining field in November 2002. The Heritage Service had proposed to install new surface drainage gullies and two new runs of drainage piping at the site to alleviate the problem. The works were to be carried out by the Kilkenny County Council roads works division. The scope of the proposed works included, by arrangement with Kilkenny County Council, the partial road closure of the N9 outside the Visitors' Centre in order to allow the commencement of the works to the verge of the carriageway, the digging of drainage trenches along the verge, piping to be laid down, connection of the cattle-grid outfall to the new drain, followed by backfilling of the trenches and reseeding. Monitoring of the drainage works was requested.
Two long trenches were dug along the verge of the N9. Trench 1 was located south of the cattle grid and was dug from south to north. It measured c. 60m in length by 0.8m. The drainage trench, which had to be level, was located on a hill and this resulted in a depth increase as the trench was dug north. The depth of the trench ranged from 0.8m (to the south) to 1.3m (to the north). It was dug through an area where cottages had previously been built in the 1800s and subsequently had been demolished. No finds of archaeological significance were recovered, although large dressed stones were present and identified as part of the old cottages. Fragments of modern china (blue willow pattern) and a clay-pipe fragment were also recovered.
Trench 2 was located to the north of the cattle grid and was dug from south to north. The trench was located just south of the entrance of the adjoining field that had been the source of much of the flooding. It measured c. 5m in length by 0.8m. Its depth ranged from 1.3m (to the south) to 1.45m. No finds of archaeological significance were recovered, although fragments of modern china (blue willow pattern) and modern refuse were recovered.
27 Hilltown Way, Swords, Co. Dublin
