Church

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument No. 519. Calluragh burial ground/An Cheallnúach: KE042-060001- is located about 1.25km E of the village of Ballyferriter on approximately the highest point in the townland with a good view to the N over Smerwick Harbour.

(4) (KE042-060004-) Oratory: A small rectangular dry-walled structure aligned E-W. It measures internally 3.5 x 2.7m. The walls are on average .9m thick and survive to a height of .45m at the E but are very defaced at the W. The stones used in its construction are quite small, 20 x 10cm on average, but the largest are set as facing stones to the core of clay and rubble. The W wall face is straight sided and contains the only surviving feature, a narrow doorway .6m wide flanked by 2 erect jamb stones .4m in height. A threshold stone survives in situ with 4 slabs of the paved pathway extending out to the NW. The small, almost square-shaped plan and the rounded nature of the external E corners imply that the oratory probably had a corbelled beehive-type roof like the small oratory on Skellig Michael (De Paor 1955, fig.8). Excavation of the interior revealed some traces of the trampled clay floor and showed that the foundations were up to .4m above the early lintel graves. The oratory lacked finds but heel-stones found at the W end probably belonged to the doorway feature.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 874. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 9 August 2013

References

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

De Paor, L. 1955 A survey of Sceilg Mhichíl. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 85, 174-87.