Ecclesiastical site

The National Monuments Service's description

Killiney church and Graveyard/Cill Éinne (Cill Aighne/the church of Aighne): This site lies in the village of Killiney at the base of the Magharees peninsula. The present large rectangular graveyard may enclose the site of an Early Christian foundation (KE036-003003-). Stone foundations, formerly outside the S wall of the graveyard, were locally reputed to be the remains of an 'ancient monastery' (CKFC 1946), but these were destroyed when the graveyard was recently extended (local information). The parish church is first mentioned in the Papal Taxation List (1302-7) for the diocese of Ardfert (Cal Docs Ire, V, 295). In 1473, the church (KE036-003001-) had long been void (Cal Pap Reg, 13, 336) but its inclusion in a list of parochial churches for the diocese of Ardfert in 1622 (TCD Ms 2158, 94) indicates that it was probably subsequently refurbished. The church was in ruins in 1756 (Smith, 70). The modern Church of Ireland church was erected in the early 19th century (OSNB Killiney, book 2, 10), directly S of the latter. A large stone cross stands beside the S wall of the modern edifice. A bullaun stone, now preserved in the yard of the Roman Catholic chapel in Castlegregory, was formerly incorporated in the wall of the graveyard (KAS). Part of a font basin, most likely contemporary with the ruined church, was discovered built-in to an overground tomb in the graveyard, and a fragment of carved stone, also probably from the medieval church, has been reused as a gravemarker near the SE corner of the building. Tobar Einne (KE036-001----) lies about 500m to N of this site.

Stone Cross (KE036-003004-): A large sandstone cross, with hollowed angles, dressed to a smooth finish on all sides. It stands 2.86m high and is a maximum of 0.49m wide and an average of 0.18m thick.

Bullaun Stone (KE036-003005-): A large irregularly-shaped boulder, unworked except for the large circular depression in the centre of its upper surface. The stone measures a maximum of 1.02m x 0.64m x 0.33m thick and the bullaun is c. 0.33m in diameter and 0.11m deep.

Font (KE036-003006-): The surviving fragment represents about half of the lower portion of an octagonal basin. The sloping sides have for the most part been broken away. The central hourglass-shaped perforation is from .05 to .03m in diameter.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 854. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 9 August 2013

References

KAS Kerry Archaeological Survey: Misc. field notes, index cards and annotated OS maps in Department of Archaeology, UCC.

CKFC Minutes of the County Kerry Field Club 1939-51, 2 vols. unpublished mss. in Kerry County Library, Tralee.

Cuppage, J. 1986 Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne.

Cal. doc. Ire. - Calendar of documents relating to Ireland 1171-1307, ed. H.S. Sweetman (5 vols., London, 1875-86).

OSNB - Ordnance Survey Name Books. Pro-forma books arranged by Civil Parish for recording townland and other name-forms and compiled in the course of the OS 6-inch survey 1824-1841. The name books also include minor names and incidental references to antiquities. National Archives of Ireland.

Smith, C. 1756 (Reprint 1969) The ancient and present state of the county of Kerry. Cork. The Mercier Press.

Cal. papal letters - Calendar of entries in the papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: papal letters, 1198-1484 [etc.] (London, 1893-)