2009:501 - RIVER BLACKWATER, KILMACOW, KILMACOW LOWER, Kilkenny

Underwater/bank-side assessment took place of two waterway impact locations associated with the Mooncoin regional water supply scheme: Site AP1 (20m section of River Blackwater) and Site IA3 (20m section of 19th-century mill-race). These sites are located c. 200m north-east of Kilmacow Lower (townlands of Kilmacow, Greenville and Milltown), within a landscape shaped by the 19th-century industrial use of the river environment; a cornmill being established at Kilmacow Lower (c. 1825), the remains of which are located 20m north of Kilmacow Bridge at NGR 256945 117150. A c. 600m-long millrace was constructed to power the mill complex, running from its mouth at NGR 256795 117320 to a millpond at NGR 257182 116722. Additional river alteration is visible, with the construction of a masonry weir structure, placed to increase the head of water flowing to the mill-race, and the construction of river-walling along the east and west banks of the River Blackwater.
Systematic visual inspection and magnetometer survey of the riverbed and the attendant bank structures was undertaken along a 350m section of the River Blackwater, NGR 256751 117353 to NGR 257025 117254. A 110m section of the adjacent millrace was also inspected, NGR 256795 117319 to NGR 256867 117236. In addition, the pipeline corridor, running between the waterway crossing points, was field-walked. While no archaeologically significant material was encountered as part of the survey, a number of features of historic interest were recorded. These features, which are associated with the establishment of the aforementioned mill complex, include a masonry sluice, masonry weir structure, drystone river-walling and masonry wall. These features lie outside the waterway impact areas identified for the pipeline route and will remain unaffected by the proposed development.