Shirehall Castle

Probable location of the Shirehall Castle, a medieval masonry castle identified in a 2010 geophysical survey of the parkland to E of Kilkenny Castle (Gimson 2010; Ó Drisceoil 2020). A castle known as the 'Shirehall garden' in the Outer Ward is referred to in 15th century documents. The shire hall was one of the castle’s administrative buildings and was used by the sheriff and for the seignorial assizes (Mills 1957). The Kilkenny shirehall can be placed, on the basis of a 1435 grant to William Boyd, in the area to the E of the main castle, and probably in the Outer Ward, which was also the usual location for the castle shire hall: 'Indenture made on the 22nd day of April in the 13th year of Henry VI witnesses that ‘James, Earl of Ormond, has granted to William Boyd of Kilkenny all his land outside “ le Shirehall-gardyne,” from the gate of same garden by measures and bounds between that garden and the garden of said William and the water of the Nore in length, and between the wall of the Earl’s garden and the common road by which you go from said William’s messuage to the Earl’s castle. To have and to hold for the term of twenty years, rendering yearly therefor twelve pence silver. And said William and his heirs shall build on the land aforesaid and return it at the end of the term to the Earl or his heirs “styf and stanche”’ (Curtis 1935, vol. 3, no. 124, 114). In 1435 the custody of the 'castle called 'le Shirhall gardeyne’' was granted by James, earl of Ormond to Walter Glerne (ibid., no. 125, 114). In 1449 the 'Shirehall gardyne' is again referred to: 'Indenture between James, Earl of Ormonde and Walter Glerne ‘gentilman’ in which he grants to Walter ‘the two messuages near Kilkenny and ‘le Shirehall gardyne’ there in which John Mesioun and Thomas McRebir lately dwelt’ (ibid., no. 172, 165-6). The Shirehall castle can also probably be correlated with the 'little Castle wth out outergate' referred to in the 1654-6 Civil Survey (Simington 1934, vol. 6, 534-5). It may also be the castle that is marked on the Down Survey county map and on the barony of Kilkenny liberties and Parish of St Patrick and Canice maps as being located outside (E of) the castle and Town Wall and directly S of the Ormonde mills, which would place it somewhere in the parkland to the E of the castle. The maps show it in the townland of ‘Danceing Meadow and other Small Inclosyers’, which is denoted as commonage in the parish terrier. The castle was probably cleared along with the rest of the outer ward at the time of the first Duke of Ormonde's remodelling of the castle (Bradley 2006, 107). By 1750 the name of the townland had changed to its current denomination, Dukesmeadows. The geophysical survey identified what may be the Shirehall castle and an adjoining large enclosed garden that probably gave it the name the 'Shirehall garden', situated between the possible barbican gate and the road to the Castle Mills to its E. The castle can be identified with a rectangular masonry structure (13m x 11m) and an adjoining rubble spread situated 160m E of the main gatehouse of Kilkenny Castle (KK019-026078-). Situated directly to its E the survey identified a rectangular walled enclosure (66m E-W x 56m N-S) adjoining the N side of the 'Common Road' (KK019-026218-). The N and E sides of the enclosure appear to be defined by very thick 4-6m wide walls, which might suggest they were truncated to the level of their base-batters. Inside the enclosure the geophysics identified garden soils and what may be a formal garden layout with a central path and yard surface.