2004:0898 - KILKENNY: Irishtown, Kilkenny

The investigation carried out at Irishtown Bridge, Kilkenny, consisted of the monitoring of the removal of riverbank and riverbed material, finds retrieval and the creation of a comprehensive photographic record. Due to health and safety concerns relating to the stability of the adjoining building (No. 1 Irishtown Road), a full-scale excavation was not possible. The aim of the exercise was to record the stratigraphy revealed, recover as much artefactual evidence as possible and relate these findings to Ian Doyle's excavation of the yard directly adjoining this area at No. 1 Irishtown Road (Excavations 2002, No. 1015, 02E1592). Irishtown Bridge and associated structures were also surveyed as a large amount of 20th-century concrete and pipe work was stripped away.

Examination of the 1799 face of Irishtown Bridge when the 20th-century walkway and pipe work were removed showed the beautifully constructed breakwater, as well as the damage done to the arches by later insertions. The foundations of the freestanding arch were exposed, showing that they were rubble-built and also built onto a rubble-andmortar deposit, probably in an attempt to prevent scouring. This arch lines up with current street frontage and seems to show that the street frontage extended over the river in the 18th and 19th centuries. The medieval Hightown wall was not disturbed during the insertion of the culverts.

The tying together of deposits observed during monitoring, and those recorded during the excavation in Brennan's Yard, proved problematic. Without being able to observe if deposits were continuous, it was very hard to establish if they were in fact the same deposits as those recorded in 2002. There were, however, several deposits which, through a combination of their appearance and makeup and the finds retrieved from them, could be said with a reasonable degree of certainty to be the same as those recorded in the 2002 excavation.

Four deposits observed from monitoring could be reliably matched to those recorded in the excavation. One was the natural river gravels, last open in the 13th century, as evidenced by two sherds of medieval local ware which were retrieved from them. Immediately above the river gravels and sealing them was a thin, dark organic layer. This layer was again dated to the 13th century by pottery recovered from it during the 2002 excavation; 261 pieces of leather were recovered from this deposit, 97% of them off-cuts. This high level of off-cuts, as well as the fact that this area would still have been waterlogged while this deposit was exposed, led to the deposit being interpreted as a dump for industrial waste. Nothing resulting from the monitoring or finds retrieval exercise carried out would change that interpretation. The two remaining deposits, which could be reliably matched to those uncovered during the excavation, were 19th-century in date. The first was a rubble deposit lying over a number of demolished walls; 19th-century pottery was recovered from it both during finds retrieval and the excavation. The same applies to a cobbled surface interpreted as the ground surface at the time that Brennan's Yard was in use as a stonemason's yard during the 19th century. No trace of the river revetments uncovered during the 2002 excavation came to light during monitoring.

A programme of finds retrieval from the archaeological deposits removed during the works took place, although few of the finds could be securely stratigraphically placed. All dating was therefore typographical. Despite the lack of a secure context, the chronological spread and variety of finds gives a good picture of activity in this area from the medieval period to the present day.

The medieval period was well represented by seventeen pottery sherds, 58% of which were Kilkenny and Leinster wares. The remainder were imported, including Saintonge from France and Ham Green from Britain. The largest group of artefacts from the medieval period was the large collection of leather shoe parts and off-cuts retrieved from a distinctive dark organic deposit lying directly over the river gravels that had been securely dated during the 2002 excavation; due to its position, it was possible to extract it separately from other material. Only 3% of the leather retrieved was shoe parts, the rest was off-cuts. None of the shoe parts were complete enough to say what type of shoes they may have come from. Three of the off-cuts had clearly visible teeth marks.

The majority of the material recovered was post-medieval in date. This includes all but one of the 1005 metal objects found (there was one medieval needle), all the 76 sherds of glass, all the 120 fragments of clay pipe and 380 sherds of pottery.

A wide range of post-medieval pottery types are represented, from the earlier stoneware and painted wares to the later china and earthenware. The range of post-medieval pottery present shows a history of continuous use from the end of the medieval period to the present. It is slightly different from the rest of the finds recovered from the site. The earliest non-ceramic finds from the post-medieval era are metal. A coin dating to the reign of George II and minted in 1760 is the earliest precisely datable find and all the non-ceramic finds, apart from the leather, date to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Of the glass, five sherds are 18th-century and the rest are 19th-century in date; 80% is bottle glass. The clay pipes are 17th-19th century in date. Of the stone artefacts recovered, the earliest is a Tudor window mullion. The rest are later industrial pieces (millstones, etc.).

The finds indicate that the activities carried out and retained in the archaeological record on site were industrial (i.e. leatherworking and stonemasonry). There was also dumping of domestic waste in earlier periods, before the land was fully reclaimed from the Breagagh.

The findings of the monitoring at Irishtown Bridge are in concurrence with the findings of the 2002 excavation. Because of the nature of the site, it was not possible to establish if the land reclamation episodes and the development of plots in this area was the same as those discovered in Brennan's Yard, but it was possible to establish that the industrial activities were similar and that the artefactual material was similar to those retrieved from the excavation. The chronology of the development of the bridge and of the river walls to either side of it was also established to be the same as described in the earlier surveys.

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