House - 17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

3 Watergate Street, Kilkenny City, 30m S of the medieval Water Gate or Irishtown Gate on the Hightown town wall (KK019-026001-). There is a house at this location on Rocque's 1758 map of Kilkenny. The ground floor S gable of a probable 17th-century timber-frame house was uncovered here during a buildings archaeology assessment by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil (10E0011) of a standing late 18th/early 19th-century house (NIAH 12000012) (Ó Drisceoil 2008; 2012; 2013). Removal of modern accretions on the S elevation of the party wall between Nos. 3 and 4 Watergate Street uncovered the S gable of a cagework house at No. 4 Watergate Street (dims. 7.5m E-W; H 3.05m), comprising a ‘scribed’, numbered, post-and-jointed rail of oak framing on dwarf-wall foundations. Grooves and mortises for original wattle panelling present on timbers, the wattle panelling having been replaced by Georgian hand-made brick infill. All of the timbers were squared by hand with broadaxe and pitsaw, so the timber surfaces preserve a valuable record of timber conversion toolmarks. Two other, probably related, timbers were also of this type and had been reused in the roof-space of the present building. An ash dowel from the rail was AMS radiocarbon dated to AD 1528–1955 (Poz–38957). Within this broad range, the years 1633–1683 produced the highest probability (48.8%) when calibrated, indicating a probable 17th-century date for the structure, which would also be in keeping with the timber technology. The scale of the structure and the nature of its timber-working would indicate it was a small artisan’s dwelling within an early modern townscape which was dominated by stone housing. The timber-frame gable was preserved in situ behind plasterboard. Subsequent archaeological monitoring of ground reduction in the interior of Nos. 2-3 Watergate (10E0011) uncovered a cobbled surface that formed the ground floor surfacing of the late Georgian -house on the ground floor and a blocked red-brick fireplace of similar age built into the N elevation of the N wall of No. 3 Watergate Street. It is likely that further elements of the timber-frame structure are present within the fabric of No. 4 Watergate Street, though this could not be verified as all of its walls are covered over with modern material.

See attached photographs of timber details.

Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil

Date of upload: 22 October 2020

References

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2008 Archaeological Impact Assessment Report: Proposed Restaurant/Café Development at 2-3 Watergate Street, Kilkenny City (Kilkenny Archaeology, unpublished report).

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2012 Archaeological excavation, monitoring and building survey at 2-3 Watergate street, Kilkenny 2010-2011 (10E0011): Final Report (Kilkenny Archaeology, unpublished report).

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2013 2-3 Watergate Street, Kilkenny, in I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 2010: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, No. 425, 138-9. Wordwell. Dublin.