Building

The National Monuments Service's description

In undulating terrain, c. 1.1km W of the River Nore, under tillage. In Kilferagh, an area c.10-12m N-S by 25m E-W was excavated during the archaeological excavations on the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline (1981-2) (Hurley 1987, 88-100). This area uncovered two roughly parallel ditches running NNW-SSE between 1- 2.5m apart, the wider W ditch (L c. 11m) curving slightly to the N and continuing beyond the edge of the excavation, while the other, to the E (L 0.9m), appears to terminate within the cutting. A corn-drying kiln (KK023-024002-) was located 3.9m W of the wider ditch with an associated yard and hearth. The scant remains of possible stone wall foundations c. 4m NW of the kiln suggested the presence of a house (KK023-024003-), while the N end of a structure (KK023-024004-), 1m SSE of the kiln, was tentatively interpreted as a barn (ibid. 89-93). Associated with the ditches and all the structures was medieval pottery of late 13th/early 14th-century date (ibid. 93-4). The settlement appears to have gone out of use by the late 14th or early 15th century when it was backfilled (ibid. 93).
Though the area excavated was very limited, the presence of several structures in close proximity to the inner, wider ditch suggested that this ditch may have been the fosse of, ‘an enclosed manorial farmstead’ or moated site (KK023-024001-) (ibid. 96).
Interpreted in the excavation report as a stone ‘house’, the remains consisted of a shallow foundation course (L wall 1.7m E-W; return wall L 1.35m N-S; Wth c. 0.6m; H c. 0.25m), one course high, which had been set on the boulder clay at a higher level than the other associated features and had been considerably disturbed by ploughing (ibid. 92). The building is described as being no larger than 2m x 3m (ibid.). The late 13th/early 14th-century pottery found in the walls and floor of the building is similar to that found at the corn-drying kiln which suggests they are contemporary (ibid.).

References

Hurley, M.F. 1987 Kilferagh, Co. Kilkenny. In Cleary, R.M., Hurley, M.F. and Twohig, E.A.(eds), Excavations on the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline (1981-2), 88-100. Cork. Department of Archaeology, University College Cork.