Burial

The National Monuments Service's description

No. 23 James Street is on the corner of James’s Street and Tilbury Place 20m NW of the site of St James's Gate on the town wall (KK019-026001-) of the Hightown of Kilkenny (Farrelly et al 1993, 11; Munby and Tyler (Oxford Archaeology) 2003, 82-3). The plot is fronted by a three-storey Edwardian house (NIAH 12000035) with modern extensions to the rear. Two archaeological excavations have been carried out on the plot. As well as medieval pits and deposits (KK 019-026191-), a well (KK 019-026194-) and a furnace (KK 019-026196-), test excavations by Paul Stevens (00E0730) identified an isolated burial of a 3-6 year old child (Stevens 2000). The isolated burial, although substantially truncated by construction, was an extended child inhumation, orientated W to E within a shallow oval grave-cut (L 0.92m; Wth 0.46m; D 0.18m) (Stevens 2000). The burial was not complete and appeared to have been re-interred in antiquity (ibid.). The grave was backfilled with hard, redeposited natural that contained a tiny fragment of brick (ibid.).

Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil

Date of upload: 3 November 2020

References

Munby, J. and Tyler, R. (Oxford Archaeology) 2003 Kilkenny City walls: conservation plan. Kilkenny. Heritage Council.

Stevens, P. 2002 23 James's Street, Kilkenny 00E0730, in I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2000: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, no. 537, 177-8. Bray. Wordwell.

Stevens, P. 2000 Inspection and Archaeological Impact Assessment 23 James Street, Kilkenny City, Excavation Licence No. 00E0730 (unpublished report.

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 Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.