House - 16th/17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

Nos. 88-89 John Street, known as 'Bridge House' (NIAH 12000151), on the SE side of John's Bridge, on the E bank of the River Nore. The house was built in the mid-18th century as a dower house for the widow of the second Duke of Ormonde, who, along with her son the Earl of Arran, remodelled a late 16th/early 17th-century stone mansion house, much of which still remains. The Bridge House was a centre for social life in the city during the Georgian and Victorian periods when Sir Walter Scott and Maria Edgeworth were guests in the heydays of the famous Kilkenny Theatre. The house contains many of its Georgian fixtures and fittings, including fine fireplaces and a stucco ceiling that adorn what were regarded at the time as some of 'the finest rooms in Kilkenny'. During the Civil War (1922-3) the house was attacked and bullet holes can be still seen on the outside wall.
The Bridge House has a fine 18th-century façade but much of the fabric of the three other main walls of No. 89 is of late 16th/early 17th-century date to second-floor level. A gable with several of the original hood-moulded window surrounds is incorporated into the rear S wall of the existing building (Farrelly et al 1993, 52). Archaeological investigations (95E0053; 01E1212) have also identified upstanding late 16th/early-17th century fabric in the N, S and E walls of No. 88 and test-excavations have identified the foundations of the original front W wall foundations (Wth 0.9m) (Gowen 1995, unpublished; 1996, 49-50; O'Donovan 1998, unpublished; 2000, 116-17; Hayden 2002, unpublished; 2003, unpublished test trenching and monitoring; 2003, unpublished monitoring; 2005, 268-9). A basement level for No. 88, with arched entrances in its N and S walls, may belong to an earlier phase of construction than the late 16th/early 17th-century house. It has been suggested by Alan Hayden that it may have been associated with a structure that was sited at the E end of the medieval St John's bridge, which was downriver of the present bridge crossing (Hayden 2002, 5, unpublished).

Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil

Date of upload: 22 March 2022

References

Farrelly, J., O'Reilly, B., and Loughran, A. 1993 Urban archaeological survey - county Kilkenny (2 vols.). Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Gowen, M. 1995 Archaeological Test Excavation at a proposed Hotel Development site at 85-89 John Street, Kilkenny. Excavation licence No. 95E0053. Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd. Unpublished report.

O’Donovan, E. 2000 Bridge House, John Street, Kilkenny: urban medieval 95E0053. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 1998: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 116-17, no. 351. Bray. Wordwell.

Gowen, M. 1996 ‘Bridge House, 87-89 Lower John Street, Kilkenny. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 1995: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland 95E0053, 49-50, no. 169. Bray. Wordwell.

Hayden, A. 2005 Bridge House, 87-89 Lower John Street, Kilkenny: late medieval house with Georgian additions, 01E1212 ext. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2003: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 268-9, no. 1016. Bray. Wordwell.

O’Donovan, E. 1998, Archaeological test excavation at a proposed hotel development site at 85-89 John Street, Kilkenny. Excavation licence No. 95E0053. Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd. Unpublished report.

Hayden, A. 2002, Monitoring of the excavation of foundations and tie holes for steel stanchions at Bridge House, John Street Lower, Kilkenny. Excavation licence No. 01E1212 Ext. Alan Hayden Archaeological Projects Ltd. Unpublished report.

Hayden, A. 2003 Archaeological Test Trenching and Monitoring in the basement of Bridge House 88-9, John Street, Kilkenny. Excavation licence No. 01E1212. Alan Hayden Archaeological Projects Ltd. Unpublished report.

Hayden, A. 2003 Monitoring of the excavation of test pits at Bridge House, Kilkenny. Excavation licence No. 01E1212 Ext. Alan Hayden Archaeological Projects Ltd. Unpublished report.