Heritage Audit of the Northern River Nore An action of the Kilkenny Heritage Plan 2007-2011 Volume 1 Introduction and Overview Authors Emma Devine, Richard Jennings, Jimmy Lenehan, Mieke Muyllaert, Cóilín Ó Drisceoil October 30th 2009 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ii THE PROJECT TEAM iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES iv INTRODUCTION 1 The Study Area 1 How the Project was carried out 3 Layout of the Report 4 CARVED BY ICE: THE ORIGINS OF THE RIVER NORE 5 Geology 5 The formation of the River Nore 5 The River Nore in the Ice Age 7 ROUTEWAY TO THE PRIMEVAL INTERIOR: THE NORE IN THE MESOLITHIC 10 NEOLITHIC PIONEERS ON THE RIVER NORE 10 THE VALLEY OF THE DEAD: THE NORE IN THE IRON AGE 11 AN ABANDONED LANDSCAPE?: THE NORE IN THE IRON AGE 14 MAGH-AIR-ROS: HEARTHLAND OF THE UI DUACH 14 A TALE IN TWO HALVES, PART 1: THE TROUBLED ‘TAMING’ OF UI DUACH 18 A TALE IN TWO HALVES, PART 2: THE NORMAN CITY OF THE NORE 20 THE LANDLORD AND THE LANDSCAPE 25 THE NORE: ARTERY OF KILKENNY’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 30 Milling 30 The Nore Navigation 34 THE RIVER AS TORMENTOR: THE GREAT FIRES OF 1763 AND 1947 36 THE LIVING RIVERSCAPE: MARKING PLACE ON THE NORE 39 THE LIVING RIVERSCAPE: FISHING ON THE NORE 50 THE LIVING RIVERSCAPE: NATURAL HERTIAGE 52 Landscape and ecology 52 Protected habitats and species 52 Habitats 54 CONCLUSIONS 72 CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE NORTHERN RIVER NORE 73 A TRIP DOWN THE NORE FROM BALLYNASLEE TO OSSORY BRIDGE 74 Introduction 74 Ballynaslee to Ballyragget Bridge 74 Ballyragget Bridge to Threecastles Bridge 76 Threecastles Bridge to Green’s Bridge 81 Green’s Bridge to Ossory Bridge 84 BIBLIOGRAPHY 92 FURTHER READING 92 i Foreword During the formulation of the Kilkenny Heritage Plan the River Nore was identified, by the Kilkenny Heritage Forum, as one of our most important heritage resources. The river encompasses built, natural and cultural heritage; is strongly identified with, and has had a very significant influence on, the life and development of the county. This project addresses action no. 8 of the Draft Kilkenny Heritage Plan to “Undertake a community based project on all aspects of the River Nore’s heritage”. It was decided to concentrate this project on the northern section of the River, which to date has not been widely studied. It is hoped that in future years additional sections of the river can be studied. The resulting report and database will be a very significant resource for community, heritage and tidy towns groups; it has the potential to inform planning and management of the area; and is a baseline against which change can be assessed. I wish to thank the team of consultants Kilkenny Archaeology, Mieke Muyllaert & Associates and Jimmy Lenehan, for their commitment and enthusiasm in undertaking his project, the sub‐ committee of the Heritage Forum who guided the project, and the local communities for their enthusiastic support of the project. This project is produced with funding from Kilkenny County Council and the Heritage Council. Dearbhala Ledwidge Heritage Officer Kilkenny County Council ii The Project Team Project Director: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil MA, MIAI (Kilkenny Archaeology) Project Manager: Emma Devine BA, PgDip (Museum Practice and Management), MIAI, (Kilkenny Archaeology) Project Ecologist: Mieke Muyllaert CEnv MIEEM MPhil BSc, (Mieke Muyllaert and Associates Ecological Consultancy) GIS manager: Dr. Richard Jennings D.Phil, (Kilkenny Archaeology) Cultural Heritage Research: Jimmy Lenehan B.Agr.Sc. (Consultant Archaeologist) Researcher: John Healy, B.A., (Kilkenny Archaeology). Graphic design: Philip Kenny, (Insight Archaeology) Mieke Muyllaert & Associates Ecological Consultancy Acknowledgements The Heritage Audit of the River Nore is an action of the draft Kilkenny Heritage Plan and was funded by the Heritage Forum, Kilkenny County and Borough Council and the Heritage Council. The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to all those who assisted in the compilation of this report: Dan Lenehan, Liz Nolan, John Dalton, Jack Phelan, Jim Hennessy, John Holland, Howard Campbell, Dick Keoghan, John Hennessy, Ed Stack, Ann Tierney, Maire Downey, Mr. Hennebry, Sean Stapleton, Moyra McCarthy, Mrs O’Rourke, Green Street, Joe Ledwidge, Prionsias O Drisceoil, Paula Devine the Kilkenny Anglers’ Association and the Kilkenny City and County Anglers, Laura Walsh (former Kilkenny Field Monuments Advisor). Chris Corlett brought to our attention the photograph of 1862 photograph in the Royal Society of Antiquaries Collection. We also wish to express our sincere gratitude to the many landowners who permitted us to access their lands during the course of this survey. Beatrice Kelly (Heritage Council) is thanked for her advice relating to climate change. We also wish to thank the following for their contributions to the public information evenings: Nora Ní Eacha, Shane Foley, John Dalton, Monica White, Báithín Wong, Tom Hoyne, Melanie Zobl, Pat Raferty, Michael Holohan, Mary Butler, Brigid Murphy, Seamus Healy, Tom Butler and Dan Lenehan. The team reported to the River Nore Heritage Audit steering group and we wish to thank them for their assistance throughout the project.: Dearbhala Ledwidge (Heritage Officer of Kilkenny County and City Councils), Jimi Conroy (National Parks and Wildlife officer), Colm Murray (Architecture Officer the Heritage Council), Tony Patterson (Kilkenny Heritage Forum). Brendan Cunningham (GIS Project Leader of Kilkenny County Council) and Aoife Dowling (GIS Technician Kilkenny County Council) are also thanked for their assistance with mapping and for providing us with GIS datasets. iii List of Figures Figure 1: Map of the Northern River Nore and its tributaries with the study area marked 2 (sources: EPA Subsoils and Rivers Dataset, Aster Dem). Figure 2: Canoe‐Survey at Ballragget Weir October 2009. 3 Figure 3: Dick Keoghan and Jack Phelan, Johhny Dalton and Sean Stapleton discussing river 4 names. Figure 4: A 300 million year old fossil fern from the Castlecomer Coal‐Seams. The coal was 5 formed over limestone and derives from trees, animals and other organic matter which inhabited shallow tropical swamps. Figure 5: Map of the Bedrock‐Geology of the Nore River Valley (Source: Geological Survey 6 of Ireland). Figure 6: At Naglesland the Nore takes a sharp left turn to avoid a ridge of hard cherty 7 limestone. The Spectacular view from this ridge were an important factor in the siting of a ringfort on its crown during the early medieval period. Figure 7: Reconstruction of ice retreat dat the en of the last ice age (Source: Submerged 8 landscape archaeological network). Figure 8: A giant Deer (Megaloceros Giganteus) discovered 1900 at Swift’s Heath and now 8 in Rothe House, Kilkenny. This specimen is about 12,000 years old. The drawing on the right is of a male giant deer ‘in the flesh’. Figure 9: Map of the Settlement Landscape of the northern River Nore Valley in the 9 Mesolithic (777‐4000 BC) and Neolithic (4000‐2500 BC) (Sources: EPA Subsoils and Rivers Dataset, Aster Dem, RMP Dataset). Figure 10: This rather innocuous flint microlith is the oldest human artefact found in County 10 Kilkenny (Source: M. Gowen and Co. Ltd. ). Excavations at Mount Sandel, County Derry have revealed that people at the time the flint was struck lived in skin‐ covered huts such as that shown above right. Figure 11: A number of polished‐stone axes have been found in the River Nore at Kilkenny 11 City, perhaps indicating that tools or objects were intentionally placed in the river as a ritual offering. The example shown above (left) was discovered during the course of the River Nore flood‐relief scheme. Much of the woodworking for the construction of early Neolithic houses such tas tha excavated at GRannsgh near Kilkmaganny would have been carried with aid of these axes (Sources: M. Gowen and Co. Ltd., Headland Archaeology Ltd.) Figure 12: Map of the Settlement Landscape of the Northern River Nore Valley in the Bronze 12 Age (2500‐800BC) (Sources: EPA Subsoils and Rivers Dataset, Aster Dem, RMP Dataset, River Nore Heritage Audit Built Heritage Inventory GIS). Figure 13: Late Bronze Age looped‐and‐socketed spearhead from Conahy, Kilkenny (Courtsey 13 Rothe House Museum) Figure 14: Barrow Cemetry at Winterbournes Stoke East, England. This shows how these 13 sites appear before they are ploughed, as has happened the majority of ring‐ barrows in the northern Nore Valley. Figure 15: This Crop‐mark at Threecastles represents the ploughed‐out remains of a massive 14 ringfort which was built to overlook an adjacent fording point on the River Nore iv to the north. Following the Anglo‐Norman conquest four more castles were built in the same area to guard the crossing. Figure 16: Map of the Settlement landscape of the northern River Nore Valley in the early 15 Medieval period (Sources: EPA Subsoils and Rivers Dataset, Aster Dem, RMP dataset, Monasticon Hibernicum, Rover Nore Heritage audit built heritage inventory GIS). Figure 17: Artists reconstruction of an early Christian landscape with ringforts scattered 16 throughout (Source: Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape). Figure 18: Map of the Settlement Landscape of the northern River Nore Valley in the late 17 Medieval period (1169‐1550) (Sources: EPA Subsoils and Rivers Dataset, Aster Dem, RMP Dataset, River Nore Heritage Audit Built Heritage Inventory GIS). Figure 19: Threecastles (Odagh) Motte. The Odagh crossing was chosen by Strongbow as 18 the site of one of his motte castles and a borough probably grew up around its flanks. This has now disappeared but the remains of the motte still survive. It was planted with specimen trees in the 18th century. Figure 20: Ballyragget Castle built in 1495 by Mighread Ni Ghearoid 19 Figure 21: Even Churches such as Threescatles parish church had to be fortified with Towere 20 following the near‐collapse of the Anglo‐Norman Colony in north Kilkenny in the 14th – 15th Centuries.