Author: granitewordpress

The city charter in 1609 on 11th April is written on animal skin. The power of symbolism reflects in the image of the lion of England, the unicorn of Scotland and the fleur de lys of France. Not in colour as the 1608 charter with its brilliantly decorative illumination, but yet poignant in written script.

The charter is an updated version of the first charter which concentrates on power, law and the council members. The ecclesiastical centres are mentioned and a description of Kilkenny and it’s wishes of it to be a ‘city of peace to the terror and fear of the wicked’. The charter gives power and rights to the people of Kilkenny and makes for a development of early city organization of its areas. The merchant class were now on the up.

Edward Shee was elected Mayor. Three weekly markets were permitted and three yearly fairs on the holy days of St Canice, St Patrick and John the Baptist.

During a time when conflict was occurring in Ireland because of a division in the Irish parliament involving the distrust towards Catholics, the Catholic bishops held a meeting in Kells, County Meath in March 1642. The bishops suggested that a council consisting of lay people and clergy should be formed to enforce law and order. This is how the Confederation of Kilkenny came about. It was decided between the bishops and the Old English gentry that a type of parliament would be held in Kilkenny.

Representatives would come from the four provinces. It couldn’t be called a parliament, because it wasn’t called by the king, so it was known as an assembly. The members of this assembly called themselves confederates because it was a coming together of Old English, Native Irish and some New English Catholics. The confederate coin which was found during the excavation of St Mary’s now the medieval mile museum is displayed in the unearthed exhibition. The coins were referred to as Kilkenny money or Rebel money.

The coin was specifically designed with no Royal image to reflect on a parliamentarian run country rather than a Royal institutional ruling. The half penny coin is a copper alloy disc in a rugged circular shape overstruck with the castle. A very rare type from this period.

The Medieval Mile Museum’s new project gives a fascinating insight into the people of Kilkenny’s medieval past.

With funding from Failte Ireland, the museum commissioned Face Lab at Liverpool School of Art and Design to reconstruct the face of a skeleton uncovered on the museum site during archaeological excavations in 2016.

Face Lab is an innovative interdisciplinary research group, at the interface of art and science. They have worked on many high profile projects, including the facial depiction of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland.

The skeleton was found beneath the entrance gate to St Mary’s churchyard during the 2016 archaeological excavations, together with eleven other burials, radiocarbon dating between 1310 and the 1600s. Recorded as Skeleton B37, osteoarchaeologists estimated the individual to have been 13 to 14 years old when they died, most likely as a result of lingering infection. There is no evidence that the person died due to violence or injury. As the individual was an adolescent, their sex cannot be accurately confirmed.

The eleven skeletons uncovered at St Mary’s gate were buried in simple winding sheets, rather than coffins. During this era, the wealthy had the means to be buried within St Mary’s Church, with intricately carved effigies and elaborate vaults to commemorate them. However, the less wealthy were buried in the grounds of the churchyard, with less visible markers of remembrance.

Curator of the museum, Grace Ries, commented; “Craniofacial reconstruction allowed the forensic rebuilding of Skull B37, to create a precise as possible picture of the person’s face, giving an emotive insight into the people of Kilkenny’s past who did not have the means to have their names written in stone in remembrance of them.”
This Kilkenny person would have lived through a tumultuous and dramatic period in Kilkenny’s history, possibly during the Black Death which ravaged the city in the 1340s or during the rule of the Confederation of Kilkenny in the 1640s.

Their bones bear the marks of physical labour, revealing that this person worked hard for a living. All too often, the names and lives of ordinary people fade into the mists of history. Face Lab’s incredible craniofacial reconstruction brings us face to face with a lost chapter in Kilkenny’s past. We do not know the name of this Kilkenny person, however we can recognise them once again as a former citizen of this city and as a shared contributor to its extraordinary heritage.”

How did Face Lab create the reconstruction?

Skull B37 was 3D scanned in the museum. Face Lab then used the 3D files to create a digital model of the skull for virtual sculpting. Following anatomical standards, the practitioners sculpted muscles on to the surface of the skull, and used tissue depth pegs to estimate the thickness of the facial soft tissue. This recreates the unique facial characteristics of the person.
The model was then exported into different 3D computer graphics applications, where colour, texture, hair and clothing were included. The result is a visualisation of the person’s face based on historical information and the contemporary population.

Project manager of Face Lab, Dr. Jessica Liu, commented; “3D computer graphics applications allow us to achieve a more realistic facial depiction for archaeological casework. The shape of the face and positioning of the facial features are guided by anatomical standards and scientific estimation methods. The textural choices, however, often relies on the artistic ability of the practitioner. We recognised that practitioner biases may impact the choice of textures and final display of the facial depiction for public audiences. The choices we have made here are related to the contemporary population and historical information”.

The craniofacial reconstruction is now on display at the Medieval Mile Museum.

The Medieval Mile Museum are delighted to be participating in the TourismCareers.ie Work Experience Programme.
The Museum will be offering one week long TY Work Experience Placements from 1st March 2022.
Students will have the opportunity to assist with the daily operations and marketing of the museum and to have a valuable insight into the museum and tourism sector.
To apply, please email a CV and covering letter explaining why you would like to do a placement at the museum to Curator, Grace Ries, at grace@medievalmilemusuem.ie.
About the TourismCareers.ie Work Experience Programme
To find out more about the TourismCareers.ie Work Experience Programme please follow this link: https://careersportal.ie/sectors/workx.php?sector_id=16.
Throughout their work experience, the student will complete activities across several different areas in the workplace and operate alongside experienced staff members where possible. This gives them a realistic insight into the world of work, an opportunity to be part of a team, to develop work-related skills, gain confidence, and learn from their experience.
By participating in the Tourism Careers Work Placement Programme, the Medieval Mile Museum agrees to:
Follow an industry approved, structured work experience template.
Assign a placement sponsor to mentor the student and ensure that the student has a clear point of contact.
Provide a formal induction into the business with a focus on the student’s role.
Identify the key skills the student will develop on their placement and provide a rounded experience which gives the student exposure to the different parts of the business that will help to develop these skills.
Support and guide the student through their Work Experience Diary and Workbook and with a focus on the skills they are developing.
Hold an exit meeting with the student to reflect on the skills learned and those that can be developed.

The Medieval Mile Museum welcomed Transition Year student, Isabelle Bowden, from Presentation Secondary School, Loughboy, for work experience.
Isabelle is the first student to take part in the museum’s ‘Remember Me’ project. Students taking part in the project are invited to choose a grave within the museum grounds that moves or intrigues them and to carry out research on the person behind the grave. Who were they and what kind of life did they live? What information on the person can we piece together and what is lost to history?
Students are invited to respond creatively to their research, writing a piece on the information they found out about the person buried and their thoughts about that person’s life. We’re delighted to present Isabelle’s creative response to the grave of Alexander Mark Duke, buried in St. Mary’s Graveyard on this day 103 years ago – 30th October 1918.
Alexander Mark Duke By Isabelle Bowden
Alexander Mark Duke was born in Mountmellick, Laois, Ireland to George Noble Duke and Helen Scalon Duke. There isn’t much information about his earlier life other than they moved residence two times. In 1901, the Duke family were living at the RIC Barracks at Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny. In 1911, the Duke family were living at William St. Kilkenny, where George Noble Duke was a Clerk to the Clerk of the Peace. In 1911, Alexander was 19 years old, a Solicitor’s general clerk at Messrs James Pöe & Sons Solicitors. When he joined the war – presumably in 1914 – he served with “A” Battery, 7th Reserved Brigade. He served with this unit for his entire military career, until his death, on the 30th of October, 1918 at age 27.
His place of death is a bit blurry, but from what I’ve found, he was admitted to a military hospital in Salisbury and then sent home, where he died. There isn’t a lot of information out there on Duke, and I speculate that is partly because of his rank, he was a Gunner, which would have been the equivalent of a Private, a foot soldier. In the First World War, not only was record keeping not at its finest, but the men in charge, who started the war, more often than not saw anyone with a rank lower than Sergeant as just a number, a sacrifice.
Even more tragic is the awful timing of Duke’s death, if he had survived for one more week, twelve days, he would have seen the end of the war. He would have seen that all his and his comrades suffering had a result, an end. I can’t imagine his life in Ireland was too exciting, save maybe if he had any stories about or even any involvement in the 1916 rising. However, I think I can safely speculate that his life in the military was a bit more eventful. I’m not foolish enough to think it fun though, it must have been a hardship. Cold, wet weather, without weather appropriate clothing, gunfire and bombs. The invention of Mustard Gas and the Flamethrower and seeing them in the battlefield must have been traumatizing beyond comparison. The loss of so many, some friends, and still having to push on, because mourning in the moment could cost another life. Duke is buried and commemorated at Saint Mary’s Church of Ireland (the graveyard of The Medieval Mile Museum).
Alexander Mark Duke’s life in battle must have been true hell. I can’t even begin to imagine what he was feeling through all of it, but in his name, and every other name on the roll of honour, I write this, and condemn those who started that war and cost so many their lives. Duke could have become a fantastic solicitor, and have gone on to do big things, but he was robbed of that. For a race who fears the concept of everlasting hell so deeply, we are excellent at creating that environment for ourselves on earth.