Stone sculpture

The National Monuments Service's description

Cloghane Church/Teampall an Chlocháin:

Projecting from the internal face of the S wall, c. 1.75m above present ground level, is a carved stone head, locally regarded as that of the legendary Crom Dubh. Its primitive features are considered by some to be comparable to other Irish stone heads of probable pagan Celtic date (Rynne 1972, 90; Harbison 1973, 23). It was on Domhnach Chrom Dubh that a great pattern used to be held in Cloghane after the pilgrimage to Mount Brandon (KE034-047007-) (MacNeill 1962, 101-5), and Turas an Teampaill included visits to the old church and to the nearby St. Brendan's well (KE035-024----) (An Seabhac 1939, 228-9).

In 2010 a graveyard survey carried out by Laurence Dunne recorded the following details about the stone head from Cloghane Church (KE035-025----): 'A vertical crack extends full height circa 1.1m W of the south window. The crack finishes in a tapering empty socket hole that held the carved head of Crom Dubh until it was stolen for the second time in 1993. A carved stone head of Crom Dubh (KE035-025001) that had been inserted in the interior of the S elevation of the medieval church was stolen in 1993 (for the second time) and has not been retrieved. John O’Donovan, writing in August 1841, records: The old church is situated on level ground about one hundred paces to the west of the margin of Brandon Bay. At the distance of three feet six inches from this to the west is a projecting stone in the wall, formed into a representation of a human head and face. It is placed at a height of five feet nine inches above the ground, and believed to represent the head of Crom Dubh (O'Donovan 1983, 111)' (Dunne 2010, 4-5, 10).

See attached photograph courtesy of Laurence Dunne

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 983. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne

Date of revised upload: 29 June 2022

References

Dunne, L. 2010 Archaeological Survey, Cloghane, Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry. Unpublished report for The Heritage Office, Kerry County Council (SMR file).

Seabhac, An. 1939 Triocha-Céad Chorca Dhuibhne. Dublin.

Harbison, P. 1973 Some medieval sculptures in Kerry. Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 6, 9-25.

MacNeill, M. 1962 The festival of Lughnasa. London. Oxford University Press.

Rynne, E. 1972 Celtic stone idols in Ireland. In C. Thomas (ed.), The Iron Age in the Irish sea province, 79-98. London. CBA Research Report 9.

O'Donovan, J. 1983 The antiquities of the county of Kerry. Cork. Royal Carbery Books.