Kilkenny Archaeology

25/02/2026

05/02/2026

With flooding in the news it's worth reminding ourselves that over half of the medieval town of Kilkenny was constructed on ground that was reclaimed in the thirteenth century from the floodplains of the rivers Nore and Breagagh. This map was produced by plotting the occurrences of medieval and early modern floodplain reclamation archaeology and the pre reclamation alluvial river deposits in archaeological and geotechnical investigations throughout the city and relating them to its contours. Remarkably, the massive campaign to narrow the river and build into its former floodplain was achieved over the course of a short few decades in the 13th century. You can read more about Kilkenny's reclamation archaeology in C. Ó Drisceoil, 2003,‘Kilkenny Reclaimed: The Archaeological Evidence for Medieval Reclamation in Kilkenny City’ Old Kilkenny Review 58.

https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/OKR2003-58-Coilin-O-Drisceoil-Kilkenny-reclaimed-the-archaeological-evidence-for-medieval-reclamation-in-Kilkenny-city.pdf