Man-made underground passage in Gardens (kilkenny City By., St. Canice Par.)

Man-made underground passage chamber discovered in archaeological test-excavations (06E0306) by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil in a former walled garden known as the 'Deanery Orchard', now a park and carpark, 37m SW of St Canice's Cathedral (KK019-026029-) (Gittins 2004; Ó Drisceoil 2006; 2009). In the early medieval period the 'Deanery Orchard' formed part of 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 Man-made underground passage, part of the bank and fosse of the ecclesiastical enclosure (KK019-026231-), a 9th-century stone-lined cess-pit (KK019-026230-) and pits (KK019-026232-) containing evidence for bone and antler working in the 10th-12th century, have also been found on the site (Ó Drisceoil 2018, 118). Burials (KK019-026171-) that underlay the round tower have been radiocarbon dated to the 10th, and 11th/mid-12th centuries. The terminal chamber of a clay-mortar bonded stone Man-made underground passage cutting into the natural boulder clay and levelled bank of the enclosure associated with the early medieval ecclesiastical settlement of St Canice's, underlay and extended to the S of, the late 17th-century N boundary wall of the Deanery Orchard. The chamber of the Man-made underground passage is of rectangular plan (int. dims. 1.65m E-W x > 1.5m N-S) and incorporates a niche in the W wall. The capstones of the Man-made underground passage had been removed and the chamber was infilled with waste containing burnt material and fragments of 15th-century line-impressed tiles. The remainder of the Man-made underground passage extends under Church Lane and probably into the graveyard (KK019-026171-) of the cathedral. The Man-made underground passage and most of its infills remain preserved in situ. See attached photograph. Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil Date of upload: 5 November 2020