Town hall

The National Monuments Service's description

According to Bradley et al (1986 vol. 4, 348) there are several references to the Tholsel of Naas between 1664 and 1681, when it was apparently replaced by a new Sessions House. It stood in the market place at the N end of South Main Street and contained assembly rooms, with cellars below and garrets above. The assembly rooms were approached by an external flight of steps on the S side of the building. In 1997, archaeological monitoring (Licence no. 97E0151: www.excavations.ie) of the mechanical excavation of pipe trench cuttings in Market Square found the western face of a lime-mortared stone wall (Wth 1.38m - 1.8m) between 0.31m and 0.5m below the existing road surface. It was built of a mix of thin stones laid on their natural beds (dims. L 0.6m; Wth 0.02m - L 0.14m; Wth 0.06m), pebbles and small pieces of slate. To the east there was a short projecting return wall or partition (L 0.6m: Wth 0.26m) at right angles to the main wall. Back-fill to the east of the wall consisted of mortar, stones and sandy soil, possibly representing the remains of cellars. The pipe trench was subsequently rerouted to allow the features to be preserved in situ.

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy

Date of upload: 10 June 2011