Water mill - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

17th-century mill complex and deflection dam on the former 'Mill Island' on the E bank of the River Nore, 70m SE of Green’s Bridge (NIAH 12004007) excavated by Paul Stevens and Brenda O'Meara (01E0608) in advance of the Kilkenny Flood Relief Scheme (Stevens and O’Meara 2003, unpublished; 2004, 279-80). The mill is probably that referred to as a ‘Corn Mill’ with stone walls and slate roof in the 1654 Civil Survey and is depicted on John Rocque's 1758 map of Kilkenny (Simington 1934, vol. 6, 549). A weir (KK019-026041-) that extends to the N of Mill Island was built between 1797-1841 (Stevens and O’Meara 2003, 25). It deflected the flow of the river into millstreams that served both the Mill Island complex and the Chancellor’s Mills (KK019-026124-) on the opposite/W bank of the river. The Mill Island mill building complex was largely demolished in the 1980s (Bradley 2000, 17). A stone-lined wheel pit for the primary mill building was added to in the 17th century by a machine room (L 4.85m x Wth 3.6m) along with a masonry and timber half-weir, or ‘deflection dam’, to the N (L > 26m). A series of radiocarbon dates obtained on wattle panels from this dam overlap at between AD 1670-1680 (Stevens and O’Meara 2003, 14). Excavations also documented a succession of post-medieval building phases. The mill complex and Mill Island were fully excavated for the Kilkenny Flood Relief Scheme.
The millrace for the mill is on the E bank of the River Nore, Kilkenny City depicted on the 1758 John Rocque map of Kilkenny and the 1st ed. (1839-40) OS map as running (L 1.77 km) from an inlet on the E bank of the River Nore at Friar's Inch to the Maudlin Mills (KK019-026076-) at the S end of Maudlin Street. The millrace is mentioned in the c.1211 William Marshal charter to the Augustinian priory of St John's (KK019-026018-) (McNeill 1931, 63). Much of the N section of the millrace is still visible but most of the town section has been culverted and, in places it has been, infilled. The millrace forms the SW boundary of the precinct of the Augustinian priory of St John the Evangelist (KK019-026018-). It was spanned by the former medieval Green's Bridge (KK019-026040-) built before 1526 and is incorporated into its 18th-century successor (NIAH 12004007). At John Street Lower it is spanned by the medieval ‘Little Bridge’ (KK019-026071-) (Bradley 2000, 21). Excavations by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil (17E0341) 25m N of Greens Bridge included a section across the millrace (Int. Wth 3.6m x D 1.2m) indicating it was revetted by stone walls (Ó Drisceoil 2017, unpublished).

Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil

Date of upload: 12 November 2020

References

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1942 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol VI: county of Waterford. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Stevens, P. and O’Meara, B. 2003 River Nore (Kilkenny City) Flood Relief Scheme excavation report Mill Island and Green’s Bridge Weir Kilkenny City 01E0608. Unpublished report. Margaret Gowen and Co Ltd.

Stevens, P. and O’Meara, B. 2004 Mill Island and Green’s Bridge Weir, Kilkenny 01E0608. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2002: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, No. 1021, 279-80. Bray. Wordwell.

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2017 Archaeological assessment report: proposed residential development at Greens Hill (Newpark Lower td.), Kilkenny City17E0341. Unpublished report. Kilkenny Archaeology.

McNeill, C. 1931 Liber Primus Kilkenniensis. Dublin. The Stationery Office.

Bradley, J. 2000 Kilkenny. Irish Historic Towns Atlas no. 10. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.