2006:1048 - Kilkeasy, Kilkenny

This site was identified in the course of work carried out for Kilkenny County Council/National Roads Authority during the N9/N10 Waterford to Powerstown scheme. The site was identified as having earthworks relating to a landscaped garden and was excavated in August 2006.
A contour survey was carried out over an area of c. 9100m2. Following the results of the survey six test-trenches (covering c. 500m2) were mechanically excavated over the earthwork features highlighted by the survey. The survey revealed a series of five terraces orientated north-west/south-east, parallel to the natural contours of the land. These formed five low arcing banks or raised areas encompassing slightly higher ground to the east. During excavation, these raised areas were found to be composed of irregular deposits of large angular and sub-angular stones in a soil matrix of clay and gravel.
These features appeared to respect the existing northern field boundary, while there was no evidence of similar features further to the north of the field boundary or beyond the southern boundary. This may be due to more intensive modern agricultural ploughing and drainage.
A large subcircular cairn of field clearance stones was investigated to the south-east of the area. This was mechanically excavated to a depth of 2m and may have been the backfill of a pond relating to part of the gardens or demesne of Rockhall House, the remains of which are situated to the south-west.
The derelict Rockhall House was an 18th- or early 19th-century country house with outbuildings. An extension to the rear of the house is shown on the first-edition OS sheet and had already disappeared by the early 20th century. A number of small outbuildings to the rear of the house also appear to have been derelict by the early 20th century, as shown on the third-edition 6-inch OS sheet.
A 19th-century farmhouse and associated outbuildings are located to the south-west of the main structure. An avenue extends from its yard in a southerly direction. A small derelict gatelodge is located to the east of the avenue and is shown on the first-edition 6-inch OS sheet. This may also have been part of the demesne. However, the demesne, if it did exist, had already gone into decline. A smaller farmhouse was built to the south-west in the later 19th century. This was inhabited until the modern residence was constructed in the late 20th century.
It is probable that the low arcing linear banks were part of a terracing of the land and gardens of Rockhall House, probably for aesthetic purposes, as was common during the 18th and 19th centuries. The possible pond is not marked on any cartographic evidence.