2021:354 - Kilbixy, Westmeath

Archaeological monitoring of the Phase 2 conservation works was carried out at the Leper Hospital in Kilbixy, Co. Westmeath. The Leper Hospital is located in the grounds of St. Bigseach’s Church of Ireland Church, in the townland of Baronstown, c. 2.7km north-east of Ballinacarrigy, Co. Westmeath.
The previous Phase 1 conservation works at Kilbixy Leper Hospital were largely confined to the southern wall, and comprised of the bracing of opes, the clearing of vegetation and ivy growth, and repairs to the structure. A void in the lower visible courses on the interior of the western wall was also filled during the Phase 1 works.
All ivy was removed from the northern wall as part of the Phase 2 conservation works. A suitable lime mortar was used to consolidate loose masonry, all masonry openings and to re-point the wall where necessary. Missing courses from the terminus of the north wall at ground level were rebuilt using suitable loose stones from the fallen masonry on site.
Vegetation was removed from the interior of the present-ground level of the Leper Hospital to better understand the building and to inform future phases of conservation works. A large void was recorded beneath the west wall. The original ground level of the Leper Hospital is buried beneath rubble and mortar from the collapsed walls. The remains of two interior walls running north-west/south-east across the building and a possible entrance to a stairway were recorded.
The Leper Hospital at Kilbixy was likely built in the style of a rectangular chamber-tower. Like most chamber-towers it has two floors. It also has a basal batter that extends to the first floor. The main entrance to the building may have been at first floor level and accessed by a wooden staircase (though the RMP file does record the entrance as the lintelled opening in the south wall). If this was the case, the entrance was likely in the no-longer upstanding east wall. There is no evidence for a stone staircase in any of the upstanding walls. The stairs may have been a wooden mural staircase, as in a chamber-tower. It is likely that such a staircase would have started at the opening in the north-west/south-east oriented wall that has been recorded in the ‘hole’, and lead to the first floor via the recessed eastern end of the north wall, emerging under the protruding stone in the north wall that may have acted as a doorway lintel.
There is evidence for two barrel vaults, one bracing from the south-western corner and the other from the north-eastern corner, beneath the first floor. Given the evidence for two internal walls, a third barrel vault may have existed in the middle of the ground floor, with each wall supporting two arches. The exact internal layout of the ground floor is unknown, but it is possible that barrel vaults also extended internally from the eastern side of the building.
There is no visible evidence for a hearth or chimney in any of the upstanding walls. A possible void in the eastern terminus of the north wall may have served as a garderobe, or toilet. The splayed arched windows of the first floor are typical of chamber-towers. The purpose of the newly-identified recess to the top right of the north wall window is unknown. It may have housed a wooden jamb for a shutter or curtain. It is likely that the first floor was open to the roof level. No structural evidence for the roof has been identified.

Courtney Deery Heritage Consultancy Ltd.