Kiln — corn-drying in Limerick City,irishtown

Excavations carried out at Charlotte's Quay by Christine Tarbett and Kenneth Wiggins in 1989 were summarised as following; 'The site was located on Charlotte’s Quay along the south side of the Abbey River, a short distance west of Broad Street. It lay on the eastern end of a large car park. The last remaining houses on the north-west side of Broad Street were demolished to make way for a new development. An excavation to the west undertaken by the OPW in 1981 by Dr Ann Lynch exposed the foundations of the medieval town wall (LI005-017010-) and the remains of a twin-towered gate known as the West Watergate. A second excavation was now carried out because trial trenches revealed the existence of stratified medieval deposits to the east of the former excavation limit, and also in order to locate the site of the ‘Castle’ (LI005-017138-) indicated on the O.S. maps of 1840 and 1871. The project was funded by Limerick Corporation and lasted seven months. A single trench was established, for the purposes of excavation subdivided into three: Area 1 (north), Area 2 (centre), Area 3 (south). Area 1 This area measured 8.5m (north-south) by 10m (east-west). Stratified deposits up to 3.1m in depth survived at the northern limit. Excavation was conducted in circumstances made difficult by tidal flooding from the Abbey River to the north. The earliest features were associated with pottery of late 12th- early 14th-century date. Among the first structures were two limestone walls aligned east-west and founded on subsoil. They were covered by organic accumulations containing wooden bowls, leather shoes and a leather scabbard and also textile fragments. A wall aligned north-south was partly constructed over the first two walls. It had an excavated length of 7.1m, and survived up to 2m in height. Later features included the sandstone-built remains of a keyhole-plan kiln (LI005-17139-). This had a cobbled chamber with an internal diameter of 0.9m and was surfaced with sandstone slabs. The western limit of Area 1 was defined by a very substantial wall aligned north-south. It had an excavated length of 10.4m and masonry survived to a height of c. 1.5m. This wall was contemporary with a second wall which extended east from its southern end for a distance of 5m. The north-south wall was penetrated by a stone-lined drain. Some post-medieval deposits were excavated, including part of a cobbled surface. Although the excavation did not extend to Broad Street frontages, our knowledge of Irishtown as a centre for Limerick’s artisan community is augmented by the discovery of the kiln in Area 1, possibly used for corn-drying, and with the excavation of several layers containing slag at the east end of Area 2, which point to the presence of a metal-working business along Broad Street. Otherwise there is a great variety of backyard activity represented by the remains of clay floors, stone scatters, and numerous groupings of stake-holes etc. The excavation revealed that there was much more to the defences of this quarter of the Irishtown than simply the town wall itself, and the twin-towered West Watergate excavated in 1981. The presence of an inner gate tower and walls flanking the lane which connected that structure to the main gate conveys a definite concern with security. This is confirmed by the subsequent appearance of the tower or ‘Castle’ (LI005-017138-) adjoining the inner gate tower from the north. This desire for strong fortifications is probably a reflection of the strategic location of the West Watergate close to Baal’s Bridge, the only link between Irishtown and Englishtown, or King’s Island, to the north. In the wake of the 18th-century reconstruction of the city, West Watergate Lane was resurfaced and continued as a route leading to Broad Street. However, the other monuments outlined above were levelled and their foundations covered over. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 19 December 2019