of the Famine Skeletal Remains
Following licensed archaeological excavations prior to the development of MacDonagh Junction in Kilkenny city, incorporating the site of the former Kilkenny Workhouse, archaeologists determined that the skeletal remains discovered on the site were interred during a short period at the height of the Great Famine 1845 – 1850.
The presence of burials within the old Kilkenny Workhouse complex was not anticipated as no record of a burial ground existed in advance of the development. Once evidence of burials was discovered, an intensive archival search was undertaken for any records that would shed light on the nature of the find. The Workhouse Minute Books, reportedly missing when the original planning study was undertaken, were found by the excavation’s director Brenda O’Meara in archives at Kilkenny Courthouse.
The Minutes describe how a decision had to be taken in 1844 to "select a part of the workhouse ground for a burial place for the paupers" as the local graveyard was nearing capacity. The Minutes record how on the 3rd March 1846, the clergyman Dean Vignoles ordered that there be no more burials in St. Patrick’s graveyard. However, burial there continued and on the 6th March 1847 the Workhouse Minutes record "50 deaths last week".
Time lapsed between this date and 1851 when the completion of a wall around a newly allocated cemetery is recorded. It appears that the burials revealed within the workhouse complex were interred over a very short period after 1847 when the city was overwhelmed by the scale of deaths in the local population arising from famine, poverty and disease.
The burials retrieved from the site underwent a process of post-excavation curation and analysis. This involved cleaning the remains and undertaking a detailed osteological analysis. In a particularly appropriate gesture, the management of the Callan Workhouse accommodated the remains while they were being cleaned and during analysis period.
The developers of MacDonagh Junction have planned the establishment of a Memorial Garden on the site where, subject to planning permission, it is intended that the skeletal remains will be respectfully re-buried during 2008, after detailed study.
Archaeologists Margaret Gowen & Company were licensed and engaged to undertake the excavation. The skeletal remains of approximately 800 individuals were painstakingly uncovered, recorded and conveyed from the site with the utmost respect and sensitivity and with the full approval of the National Museum.
Osteologist, Jonny Geber was engaged in the time consuming process of analysis. Specialist examination of the skeletons revealed potent evidence of extraordinary poverty, privation and ill-health. It is clear that the unfortunate men, women and children who spent their final days in the workhouse were not just malnourished, but desperately sick. A fascinating, and shocking social history, reflecting the lives of the poor in the 19th-century city, has emerging from this study.
"The establishment of a Memorial Garden in 2008 will provide an appropriate tribute to the people who were laid to rest here well over a century ago. Their presence will be a source of reflection for visitors to MacDonagh Junction and an important part of Kilkenny’s heritage going forward." – MacDonagh Junction Development Company.
Report courtesy of Margaret Gowen & Company Ltd., Archaeologists.