County: Meath Site name: KELLS: Town Hall
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ME017-044 Licence number: 04E1068 EXT.
Author: Sinéad Phelan, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 674301m, N 775840m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.726931, -6.874062
Kells Town Hall is located on the north side of Headfort Place within the zone of archaeological potential for Kells town. The building was originally designed by the architect William Caldbeck between 1852 and 1855 and was built for the National Bank. It is a tall, three-storey, five-bay building in the Italianate style with a curved curtain wall and carriage arch on each side. The building is a protected structure and is located within an architectural conservation area (Kells Development Plan 2001).
Monitoring was carried out in April 2005 of an area 23m by 20m to the north of the rear yard/carpark of the Town Hall, a second phase being carried out on 16 August 2005. The area sloped from south to north and the topsoil varied between 0.3 and 0.5m in depth and sealed a lower topsoil/plough soil horizon up to 0.3m in depth. This in turn sealed natural geological strata. There was a lot of evidence for tree-root disturbance. As a result of monitoring, two medieval pits were exposed. These features were excavated under a separate licence (see No. 1189, Excavations 2005, 05E0276).
27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
