What is recorded here

Burial in Pennefatherslot holds mass pits from the Kilkenny Union Workhouse established in 1843, hidden beneath a modern shopping centre. Brenda O'Meara excavated the site in 2006 after Cóilín Ó Drisceoil found it during groundworks, revealing how forgotten suffering still lies under ordinary development. One pit also cut through a Bronze Age cremation, linking ancient fire and later despair in the same soil.

A burial ground (KK019-026216-) consisting of mass burial pits associated with the former Kilkenny Union Workhouse (established 1843) was excavated (05E0435) in 2006 by Brenda O'Meara following its discovery by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil during archaeological monitoring (05E0435) of groundworks for the construction of the MacDonagh Junction shopping centre (O'Meara 2006, 154-62; 2009, 272). The burial ground was sited in the SE of the workhouse precinct, in an area of open space outside the women's yard of the complex. An isolated cremation burial deposit of probable Bronze Age date was also found within the site, truncated by one of the 19th-century burial pits. The burial consisted on a shallow pit (truncated L 0.66m; Wth 0.72m; D 0.06m) filled with charcoal, ash and burnt bone (O'Meara 2006, 156). Beneath the burnt remains several pieces of Bronze Age coarse ware were recovered (ibid.). Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil and Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 30 March 2022

A 19th-century mass burial pit associated with the Kilkenny Union Workhouse; significant as a record of famine and workhouse conditions in Ireland.

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