Demolition will ‘seriously injure historical integrity’ of Kilkenny, say opponents

Frank McDonald,

Environment Editor

The imminent demolition of three seemingly ordinary Victorian two-storey houses on Vicar Street, Kilkenny, to facilitate a new road scheme will seriously injure the historical integrity of the medieval city, according to opponents of the plan.

Ciln Drisceoil, director of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, noted that the three houses stood on the site of a much earlier courtyard manse - the Prebendary of Tascoffin - intimately associated with the nearby medieval St Canices Cathedral.

He disputed Kilkenny county manager Joe Crocketts contention that the houses were of no heritage value, saying there were substantial grounds to believe that parts of the Tascoffin complex were still standing behind Victorian accretions.

Mr Drisceoil said investigations conducted to date have been inadequate, as no large areas of plaster were removed to see what was underneath. Thus, the local authority still has no idea as to the extent of surviving remains of the medieval house.

He also warned that the Central Access Scheme - as the proposed road is now called - could lead to large-scale destruction of deeply stratified layers of waterlogged medieval archaeology, such as timber structures found at nearby Johns Bridge.

New research indicates there is every likelihood that the Central Access Scheme will lead to the destruction of a famine graveyard that is recorded as having been present at the County Fever Hospital, Wolfe Tone Street, Mr Drisceoil said.

He also noted that excavation of a similar graveyard on a site next to Kilkennys railway station, where MacDonagh Junction shopping centre was being developed, had cost more than 1 million in 2006-2007 and led to the disinterment of over 900 bodies.

The Central Access Scheme budget has already increased from 8.5 million to 10.7 million. Archaeologists familiar with the area believe that costs could rise significantly because of the likely presence of sensitive archaeological remains on the route.

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Demolition will ‘seriously injure historical integrity’ of Kilkenny, say opponents