Artefacts return a telling boost for Medieval Mile Museum

It’s a sort of homecoming next week at the Medieval Mile Museum as the remains uncovered during excavations at the former St Mary’s Church and graveyard return with their hidden stories uncovered.
“Its a really exciting time for the Museum”, said CEO of Kilkenny Civic Trust Ciaran Conroy adding “Everyone will remember distinctly when they were first discovered. It was like a live show watching Cóilín O'Drisceoil and his team excavate the site and come up with the remains. There was always a group of people around there. People had a fascination with the archaelogy dig at the gate, that shallow grave uncovering history. Those artefacts now return, in an exhibition entitled 3 lives, 3 deaths, one life unlived.
“Its remarkable to think that in this area, 20,000 people were buried over 800 years of history - and only 22 of those remains have been excavated,” he added.
The award winning museum, celebrated for the renovation work and its sensitive, compelling structure, is open just two years and already has been a big hit with visitors.
And this exhibition is yet another addition to the museum. “We have developed the offering for visitors, with rooms displaying Kilkenny’s Liber Primus to the Lego hunts for children, the Museum caters for all ages and tastes and this exhibition will further strengthen the national and international standing of the museum.”
The museum has had over 65,000 visitors with 67 nationalities enjoying the Medieval Mile Museum. When you consider that in the first year, three quarters of visitors were from Ireland as word first spread, it just goes to show how quick an impact the museum has made around the globe in just two years.
The harrowing and heartbreaking stories of these women will bring the museum tour to a new level.
“These women had incredibly hard lives, one of the women who died at around 18, her spine showed signs of brutally hard work, its estimated she was married at 12, and she was uncovered wrapped in a shroud. The life expectancy of the working class in those years was about 30 in the 15th century. It’s amazing that these women will have their stories told, alongside the merchant classes of Kilkenny.”
“It’s an important exhibition for the museum, it’s one of the few outside of Dublin of this kind, the artefacts are the property of the state and it’s a real endorsement from the National Museum of Ireland to ensure their return to Kilkenny.” The next week will see the exhibition put into place before 3 lives, 3 deaths, one life unlived is unveiled. to o the public. The exhibition will provide a fascinating insight into everyday life in medieval Kilkenny, and for the Civic Trust, a fitting tribute in their 30th year.