Money box from Kilkenny Archaeology’s excavations at Highhays, Kilkenny

July 5, 2019

A fourteenth century money-box from the Highhays pottery production centre, Kilkenny (photo: Kilkenny Archaeology/John Sunderland). The money-box was found in 2006 amongst the 5000 pottery sherds recovered during excavation of a kiln, workshops and clay processing pits by the late Emma Devine and Cóilín Ó Drisceoil at Highhays, Dublin Road, prior to the construction of the MacDonagh Junction shopping centre. Money boxes such as these were used to store coins and they have a small slot which was used to deposit the coins. In this case the money-box has been broken along the slot, indicating it was deliberately broken to remove the coins. Perhaps, therefore, it belonged originally to the Highhays potter?!