What is recorded here

Half a buried castle breathes beneath Kilkenny's lanes, its thick stone wall still standing where apartments now rise. Men built it to watch the street, not to be watched, and the city later covered it instead of breaking it open. What remains is not a display but a warning: even when forgotten, depth resists forgetting.

Possible urban tower house to rear of Nos. 25-6 High Street (NIAH 12000047 and 12000046), between Guard Lane and Poyntz Lane. Its foundations and a substantial ( > 2m deep) battered masonry wall were recorded running along the S side of Poyntz Lane in pre-development test excavations (97E0309) carried out by Martin Reid (Reid 1997 unpublished; 1998, 100-101). The building probably originally fronted onto High Street and the mid-18th-century buildings of 25 and 26 High Street may incorporate fabric belonging to the structure. The identified medieval wall was partially demolished but what remains was preserved in situ below the formation level for an apartment development. Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil Date of upload: 14 December 2020

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