County: Kilkenny Site name: KILKEASY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A032, AR042, E3013
Author: Jonathan Monteith, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 651984m, N 632858m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.444719, -7.235332
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 located in flat boggy pasture, within an area identified as part of 18th- or early 19th-century landscaping for Rockhall House, located to the south-west. Excavations were carried out in September 2006.
This site (measuring 15m by 15m) consisted of a single, irregular, isolated pit. Measuring 2.73m long, 1.75m wide and cutting natural subsoil to a maximum depth of 0.57m, this pit was filled with a single mixed deposit of dark-brown silty clay and sand with large limestone boulders. It is unlikely the stone content could have formed any type of lining function, given their disturbed nature, and there was no evidence of any oxidisation of soil or charcoal to suggest use of the pit as a kiln. No other features of archaeological significance were identified.
It is probable that this feature is related to the landscaping of Rockhall House lands during the 18th or early 19th century.
Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
