County: Westmeath Site name: Kilbixy Leper Hospital
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WM011-040001 Licence number: 21E0622Ext
Author: Siobhán Deery
Site type: Leper Hospital
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 632065m, N 761547m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.602788, -7.515534
Archaeological monitoring of the Phase 3 conservation works at Kilbixy Leper Hospital (RMP WH011-040001), Ballynacarrigy, Co. Westmeath took placed from September 2022 to January 2023. It follows an earlier phase of conservation works (see 2021:354 entry, N. Garahy).
The Leper Hospital is situated within the Baronstown Demesne, bordering the graveyard of St Bigseach’s Church (RMP WM011-040002). It is also located within the Zone of Archaeological Potential (ZAP) associated with the deserted medieval settlement of Kilbixy (RMP WM011-155).
The Phase 3 conservation works commenced in September 2022 and primarily focused on the western wall, as well as stabilising parts of the southern and northern walls. The works included the complete removal of ivy, roots, and dead vegetation using hand tools. Loose mortar was also removed. The surviving faces of the walls were then re-pointed, and areas of exposed wall core were consolidated with mortar. A slot trench was hand-dug at the base of the large void in the interior of the western wall, in order to find a foundation upon which the wall could be rebuilt. The void was then filled in and repointed using suitable stones gathered from around the site.
At the vulnerable opes of the southern and northern walls, small trenches, approximately 0.5m wide and 0.5m deep, were hand-dug in order to determine the stability of walls. Similarly, large amounts of discernible rubble and waste soil material was removed from the exterior of the eastern wall. Fallen and loose masonry was set aside for future conservation works. In addition to this, a small slot trench, approximately 0.6m wide, 2m long and 0.4m deep was dug at the corner of the junction of the western and northern wall. A small void, approximately 0.9m wide by 0.5m high by 0.40m deep was identified at the base of the northern wall. During the removal of built-up soil, a lime mortar work surface was exposed. The surface, which was approximately 0.03m in thickness, did not extend right up to the base of the northern wall, indicating it was not part of the original structure but a much later addition.
No additional finds, features or deposits of archaeological interest were identified during this phase of monitoring.
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