Mayor 'Turns the Sod' on Heritage Council HQ Archaeological Dig
The very newly elected Mayor of Kilkenny, Sean O’Hargain, arrived last night to officially ‘turn the sod’ of the Robing Room excavations taking place here in the Heritage Council HQ. You can see his enthusiasm for the nitty gritty of archaeology and for the work of the Heritage Council. Students of the NUI BA in Local Studies looked on eagerly, knowing they will be in the trench themselves on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, digging as part of their course – lucky them!
Investigations in 2011 found early medieval artefacts of antlers and bone and evidence of a comb-maker’s workshop - indications of the first urban settlement in the whole of Kilkenny City. Coilin O’Drisceoil of Kilkenny Archaeology Ltd wants to explore more of the who, what, when and hows’ of the origins of the Kilkenny settlement, which was part of the ‘outer enclosure’ of the nearby St. Canice’s 6th century monastic site.
The public can come and see the excavation for themselves this Wed 27th, Thurs 28th and Fri 29th June 2012. If you can't make it in person, we'll be posting video clips from the dig each day this week on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheHeritageCouncil