ROTHE House Conserv.( AOS - The Heritage Council

settlement between the Willoughby and Preston families, the property was half
assigned to the bride’s father, Richard Preston, to be held in trust for the
newlyweds — Susanna Preston and William Willoughby. It was one of the
Willoughbys who erected the shop front on either side of the arch (De Loughrey,
1976), but the date of this event is unclear.
In the Proceedings and Transactions of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland
Archaeological Society for 1854-55, Richard Preston is recorded as having taken
down and repaired the chimneys of Rothe House at his own expense as they
were in a dilapidated and dangerous condition.
O’Dwyer’s (1994) analysis of the Primary Valuation records from the 1850s
onwards shows that segments of the house and cellars were being sub-leased
to numerous tenants. The valuation records dealt separately with the front and
the back of the house, the front being dealt with as three separate properties,
numbers 36, 37 and 38 Coal Market (Figure 13).
A report to the Kilkenny Sanitary Authority in 1884 records that Rothe House was
declared ‘unfit for human habitation’ (James, 1884) as the site was in a ‘filthy
and dangerous condition’: the courtyards were used as piggeries, with no
facilities for sewerage or drainage of human or pig waste.
By 1896-7, the Willoughby family had ‘conveyed and assigned to Timothy
O’Hanrahan houses and premises at Wolfe’s Arch’ (O’Dwyer, 1994). A solicitor,
businessman and antiquarian (Bolguidhir, 1992), O’Hanrahan undertook the first
programme of repairs and restoration works and is thought to have restored the
second house. He was also a Gaelic enthusiast and established the Kilkenny
branch of the Gaelic League. Once the second house had been restored in 1899,
the League met in Rothe House where ‘classes were held in the New Rooms in
Wolf’s Arch’ (Bolguidhir, 1992).
For a short period of time, the former Kilkenny Archaeological Society (later the
Royal Society of Antiquaries Ireland) exhibited their artefact collection in the
house; this was later removed to the National Museum, Dublin.
The 1901 Census of Population Returns for Parliament Street West Side and
Wolf’s Arch were returned separately. The latter, Wolf’s Arch, showed a nil return,
indicating that it was uninhabited. The return for Parliament Street West Side
showed that two unmarried individuals, O’Hanrahan and Michael McGrath,
inhabited the property. Professionally, O’Hanrahan is listed as a bacon merchant
and magistrate, McGrath as a clerk in a provisions shop. On the return for ‘Out-
Offices and Farm-Steadings’, 14 outbuildings were listed: 5 stables, 1 coach
house, 1 piggery, 1 boiling house, 1 turf house, 1 potato house, 1 workshop and
3 stores.
The 1911 Census shows nil returns for both Parliament Street West Side and
Wolf’s Arch showing that the property was completely uninhabited at this time.
In 1962, O’Hanrahan sold the site jointly to the (new) Kilkenny Archaeological
Society and a Mr Brennan for the sum of IR£4,500. Brennan operated a butcher’s
shop at the northern end of what is now the museum entrance and shop of
House 1. The Kilkenny Archaeological Society began a programme of restoration,
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