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Tunnels in Kilkenny City

feltoncrikk

Recently I've heard that there is a whole network of catacombs in Kilkenny City, which wouldn't be all that unfitting, considering its history.

I hear they are entered from the crypt in St Mary's Cathedral (that door at the back with the skull and crossbones on it) and many other places too.

There is an interesting trap door in the street level of the Tholsel (town hall) that may lead to them, as well as that tunnel in the Rose Garden of the castle and I'm sure there are many other entrances. Surely St. Canice's Cathedral and St. Kieran's College have entrances too...

Does anyone know anything about them, or even been in them?

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KatCookie

yes, but we'd better minus the beers becasue if we were all drunk then people wouldnt believe us...
lets go search at midnight, it would create good atmosphere!

Raze_them_all

but without the beers...we're just sober fools looking for holes...with beers we become adventurers

jiggajt

Did you guys ever get around to it? Find anything?

KatCookie

Nah, we're all talk and no walk. or in this case no dig.. sorry, bad pun..

Raze_them_all

WE REALLY SHOULD DO THIS....only realised caps was on

jiggajt

It would be good to organise something for around halloween. It would make it extra spooky!

catbear

just read this thread.
before the last upgrade of paths on high street there were plenty of interconnecting cellars along the street. same on parliament street. off hand i remember hopping down under the town hall via a trap door in the left hand corner, (behind where they usually put the crib at xmas)
basically i don't see any reason why they should should not still exist.
i've also got a peek at the vaults under st.Marys behind the tholsel.
they're nothing special, probably storage.
as far as i know most the area around St.Marys is built on vaulted ground so the real topography would have a much lower hill and probably a gentler slope down onto kieran st.
as for the tunnals from the old st.patrick graveyard, there are is mention of them in the military diaries of the commonwealth army however there is a tunnel mentioned from the black abbey to canices cathedral (that's right, under the bragagh (how is it spelt again))
i don't have a link but i can look up the book if anyone is interested.
i have potholed (no smutty remarks please) down to the cystal cavern in Dunmore cave. i too doubt that there could be a fissure long enough to reach KK.
afaik the recent excavations on the parade and canal square have not revealed anything new however the diagio site could be interesting. possibly a few boat slips but no storage vaults, too close to the waterline.

Firetrap

Interesting...

KatCookie

Firetrap wrote: »

Interesting...

Interesting..
i think we need dates..
can anyone tell me dates of cromwell's time.. im thinking 1700-1800's.. yes/no?
when was st marys built? i know Canices Cathedral is ~800 yrs old because i took part in the celebrations..

Loveless

I noticed when they pulled up the car park down from the Castle there's a hole covered over, marked 'Deep Hole', on the way down to the traffic lights

Cabaal

KatCookie wrote: »

Interesting..
i think we need dates..
can anyone tell me dates of cromwell's time.. im thinking 1700-1800's.. yes/no?
..

Cromwell parliamentary invasion of Ireland was about 1649–50

KatCookie

Ah!. .. i guess i dont know my history too well then..

i think ive said this before, but the excavations done on Kieran Street show that the river used to come right up to that wall.. but i don't know WHEN this was (and unfortunately, i havnt kept in touch with the person that would know)
-just thinking off the top of my head, havent thought these thoughts through -if there was water where Kieran St is now, then i'd guess that there wouldnt be any catacombs there OR any underground tunnels would have been built after.. yes?

catbear

i'd doubt there are any catacomb complexes under kilkenny, plenty of crypts under the various churches etc.. but Kilkenny was never stuck for places to bury people.
the only exceptions were times of plague, once a person died they were put into a hole asap, even if it meant three steps from the front door.
over the years bodies have been found at a low depth under high street suggesting quick burial; not to be confused with recent finds in marys lane which was an established burial site.
a few years ago a local archaeologist found the remains of a young boy behind a slate slab in a wall of a high street shop, i think it was from the 1600s, around the last recorded outbreak. i think it was in the papers.
river courses change but when did the river last reach Kieran st?
during the flood relief works a wattle screen was found in sediment under johns bridge, it was at least over two thousand years ago from carbon dating.
the screen could have been part of a fish trap or part of a ritual. who knows?
if this kind of thing gives you a buzz, then no harm in having a look at the back copies of the Kilkenny archealogy journal in the reading room of the library on johns quay.
just check the index of each copy to find stories that interest you.
happy hunting.

p.s.
if you are really into catacombs, Rome is where it is at, more than you can shake a stick at.
there's one crypt on the via veneto with frescos made of human bones.

biffontour

Hi guys,

I know this is a very old thread but after St Mary’s was tranformed was there any tunnels found or even any update on them in the last 10 years

pat k

Deliverance XXV wrote: »

And 4 snobs and a overfed dog...

This thread is fairly interesting. I'm finding out some great info about Kilkenny I never knew.

Ha Ha 4 snobs and an overfed Dog Love it!! :-) good memories of dem lot though (famous 5)