Priceless medieval artefacts discovered in Thomastown dig

In Thomastown archaeologist Colm Flynn was brought in to supervise the work - and his team have identified and unearthed some gems from the town’s past.
During works like this the archaeology is ‘development lead.’ What this means is Colm inspects the trenches that are dug for the undergrounding of services, to determine if there is material of interest, but he can’t carry out an excavation independent of that work.
“We can only excavate where there is going to be a physical impact from the development,” he explained.

Even the depth of the trench is dependent on the development and not the archaeology, so it’s ‘pot luck’ what will be found, if anything. Many of the discoveries in Thomastown have been found about half a metre below the surface.
“We might know the trench indicates more but we can’t make it bigger. We follow what the developer needs, in this case Kilkenny County Council. We get to look in the trench.”
Another way to look at it, Colm says, is that all the archaeology not in the trench is still there, under roads and buildings and maybe in 20 years time technology will have advanced to a level where they will be able to recreate what’s in the ground without putting a shovel in the soil.

The construction works for this project have required narrow slit trenches to be excavated up to 1metre deeper than the existing road level.
One of the most beautiful discoveries made during the project has been a glazed, pottery jug handle. Colm said it is very ornate and high status and could have been from a wine jug in the home of a relatively wealthy merchant. Other pottery sherds have also been unearthed that would have come from more common pots used around the same time.

Thomastown grew in the medieval period because of this trade and commerce. Boats could dock there and goods could be transported on to Kilkenny City. Pottery found could indicate the wine trade carried on in the town.

Another discovery that reflects the business past of Thomastown is a solid ‘hundredweight’. More recent, in that it’s only about 150 years old, it’s a nice discovery because it reflects the continuous industrial activity in the town.