County: Kilkenny Site name: Castlebanny, Mullinavat
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 19E0242
Author: Seán Shanahan & Marion Sutton, Shanarc Archaeology Ltd
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 655644m, N 632393m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.440176, -7.181580
Test excavations were undertaken in respect of planning ref. P.18/827, an application to construct a machinery and straw storage shed at Castlebanny, Mullinavat, Co. Kilkenny. The proposed siting of the shed is within the zone of archaeological potential of a castle (unclassified) KK036-003.
Excavation of four test trenches was carried out on 24 April 2019. The trenches were excavated with a mechanical digger utilising a 1.5m-wide flat-bladed bucket. Trenches measured approximately 1.8m in width, and lengths of 20-23m were achieved. The presence of a drainage hollow and wet ground, and an existing farm roadway, constrained the lengthening of trenches to the north and south (respectively).
Excavated soil was generally sterile, and no finds were recovered during a visual examination of the spoil. A total of two finds were recovered during clearance by hand of a grey brown silty clay topsoil immediately above and between a linear arrangement of stone exposed at the south end of Trench 1 and Trench 2. A metal L-head shaped nail or small spike was recovered in Trench 1, and a small sherd of white glazed modern pottery was recovered in Trench 2. Both finds are post-medieval in date.
Unit 39a, Hebron Business Park, Hebron Road, Kilkenny
