Ecclesiastical enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Section of the inner ecclesiastical enclosure fosse and bank of the early medieval church settlement of Cill Chainnigh uncovered in test-excavations (06E0306) by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil in a former walled garden known as the 'Deanery Orchard', now a park and carpark, 40m SE of St Canice's Cathedral (KK019-026029-) (Gittins 2004, 272-3; Ó Drisceoil 2006, unpublished; 2009, 273-5). The Deanery Orchard is depicted as a large open area on John Rocque’s 1758 map of Kilkenny, which in the 19th century was divided into three enclosures by stone walls. Before it was the orchard for the Deanery (KK019-026033-) on the opposite (W) side of Coach Road (built 1690), it formed part of the plot of the manse house (KK019-026106-) for the Precentor of the cathedral chapter in the Cathedral Close. In the early medieval period it occupied the S side of the precinct of the ecclesiastical settlement of Cill Chainnigh; the round tower (KK019-026175-) is the only remaining upstanding building from this period of the site's history but a souterrain (KK019-026227-), a cess-pit (KK019-026230-) and pits (KK019-026232-) containing 10th-12th century bone and antler working waste have also been found on the Deanery Orchard site (Ó Drisceoil 2018, 118). Human burials that underlay the round tower (KK019-026175-) have been radiocarbon dated to the 10th, and 11th/mid-12th centuries and burials (KK019-026234-) to the E of the 13th century chancel of the cathedral on Church Lane have been dated by radiocarbon to the mid-7th – mid-10th century AD (ibid.; Ó Drisceoil and Cahill 2013, unpublished).
A section through the flat-bottomed fosse (Wth 6m; D 0.9m) and levelled clay bank of the ecclesiastical enclosure was partially excavated, revealing it to have been dug into the natural gravel. It was backfilled with the levelled bank material, a distinctive orange clay and gravel, from which bone and antler working waste was recovered. Radiocarbon dating (690-890 AD) of a cess pit (KK019-026230-) constructed into the fosse backfills indicates the enclosure was backfilled before the 9th century. The fosse was sealed beneath a 16th/17th-century yard surface associated with the Precentor's manse. The fosse could be traced intermittently for c. 37m within the Deanery Orchard and the curving pattern of Church Lane probably reflects its continuation to the N (Ó Drisceoil 2018, 118). These excavated sections would appear to relate solely to the innermost enclosure (diam. c. 110m; area of 0.95 hectares) of the ecclesiastical settlement. It has been suggested that the modern curving street pattern of Thomas street, upper Dean street, Vicar Street and the former Drysdal's Lane reflect the outer ecclesiastical enclosure (diam. c. 270m x 185m; area of 5.3 hectares) but there is, as yet, no archaeological evidence to support this hypothesis (Bradley 2000, 1). What may be part of a fosse, dated to 990-1150 AD, that subdivided the outer ecclesiastical enclosure was excavated (11E0157) near the Bishop's Palace (KK019-026123-) (Ó Drisceoil 2013). The feature was preserved in situ.
Within the grounds of the 14th-century bishop’s palace (KK019-026123-) and 22m N of the N transept of St Canice's Cathedral (KK019-026029-). Section of an early medieval U-shaped fosse (L 5m; Wth c. 4m; D 1.28m), orientated NW-SE, was uncovered in excavations (11E0157) by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil (Ó Drisceoil 2011, www.excavations.ie; 2012, www.excavations.ie; 2013, 2018). It is possibly part of the outer enclosing element of the church settlement of Cill Chainnigh. A fragment of animal bone from the backfill of the fosse was dated by radiocarbon to AD 980-1155 and the feature had been dug into by a pit (KK019-026236-) containing waste, dated to AD 990-1155, from a bone and antler working workshop. The fosse is interpreted as a sub-division of the outer ring, the sanctior, of the ecclesiastical settlement of Cill Chainnigh. The feature was preserved in situ.

See attached photographs.

Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil

Date of upload: 11 November 2020

References

Gittens, M. 2004 Saint Canice’s Orchard, Coach Road/Church Lane. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2002: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, no. 1006, 272-3. Bray. Wordwell.

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2006 Archaeological Assessment: Proposed Carpark Development at The Deanery Orchard, St. Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny City 06E0306, (Kilkenny Archaeology, unpublished report).

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2009 The Deanery Orchard, St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2006: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, No. 1062, 273-5. Bray. Wordwell.

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2018 From Gaelic church settlements to Anglo-Norman towns: problems and possibilities. In H.B. Clarke and Sarah Gearty (ed.), More maps and texts: sources and the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, 115-34. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.

Ó Drisceoil, C. and Cahill, J. 2013 Archaeological monitoring report: Church Lane and Common Hall Lane, Kilkenny City (09E457 ext). Unpublished Report. Kilkenny Archaeology.

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2013 Excavation and Archaeological Building Survey at the Robing Room, Heritage Council Headquarters (former Bishop’s Palace),
Church Lane, Kilkenny 2011 & 2012 (11E157 & 11E157 ext.): final report. Kilkenny Archaeology (https://www.academia.edu/9523935/Archaeological_Excavations_at_the_Bishops_Palace_Robing_Room_Saint_Canices_Cathedral_Close_Kilkenny; accessed 5 November 2020).

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2011 The Robing Room, Bishop's Palace, Church Lane, Kilkenny. Licence no. 11E0157. Excavations.ie: database of Irish excavation reports (https:// www.excavations.ie/report/2011/Kilkenny/0022513/ ; accessed 3 August 2020).

Ó Drisceoil, C. 2012 The Robing Room, Bishop's Palace, Church Lane, Kilkenny. Licence no. 11E0157. Excavations.ie: database of Irish excavation reports (https:// www.excavations.ie/report/2012/Kilkenny/0023391/ ; accessed 3 August 2020).

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