Leacht

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument No. 10001. Illaunloughan/Oileán Lócháin (KE087-036017-) is a small, low-lying island located in Portmagee Channel, c. 120m from the mainland at S and c. 400m WNW of Portmagee (Port Mhic Aoidh) village. The island stands in the civil parish of Killemlagh (Cill Imleach), in the barony of Iveragh (Uíbh Ráthach). According to Marshall and Walsh (1998, 102) 'There is no historical documentation for the island, and the origin of its name is uncertain. Lochán may be the name of a saint associated with the island, a theory supported by the mention of two Lochans in the Martyrology of Oengus, written c. AD 800 (Stokes 1984, 255, 263) and by the inland location of Killoughane (Cill Lócháin) ecclesiastical site [KE065-058001-] at the eastern end of the Iveragh peninsula (O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 357). Alternatively the island name may be derived from the island of the chaff (OSNB). Four seasons of archaeological work, carried out from 1992 to 1995, have completed the excavation of about 70 per cent of the island.
Excavation revealed that the drystone oratory [KE086-036008-] overlay a leacht on its N side and was preceded by two sod-built structures, possibly oratories [KE086-036016-/018-], at E. A radiocarbon date of 640-790 AD was derived from a context overlying the clay floor of the drystone oratory. This drystone oratory was conserved in 2001-2 (O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 308; Marshall and Walsh 2005, 213).
Leacht described by Marshall and White (2005, 46-9) as follows; 'Excavation on the northern side of the oratory [KE087-036008-] revealed a sizeable, solidly built leacht, clearly a primary feature, the construction of which was integrated with that of the oratory. The Illaunloughan leacht was 1-1.3m wide (north-south) and ran parallel to the northern wall of the oratory for 3.6m. Lower than the leachta on Skellig Michael, at 0.4m high, it appeared to be undisturbed and in its original condition, with its borders strongly defined by sizeable vertical stones interspersed occasionally with short sections of walling. A similar use of vertical uprights combined with walling is found in the kerbing of the reliquary shrine. Each vertical stone of the leacht was set deeply in a trench, c. 0.50m wide, dug to a depth according to its individual size; on the northern border, small stones at the base further braced the upright stones. The interior of the leacht was filled with redeposited soil, gravel and small stones and finished with rough layers of larger stones; liberal quantities of white quartz stones covered the top'.

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 1/1998).

See attached plan and elevation of the excavated leacht to N of drystone oratory on Illaunloughan, taken from Marshall and Walsh 2005, 48, Figs 37a and 37b

Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork.

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 30 March 2022

References

Stokes, W. 1905 The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. London.

Marshall, J. W. and Walsh, C. 2005 Illaunloughan Island: an early medieval monastery in County Kerry. Bray. Wordwell.

Marshall, J. W. and Walsh, C. 1998 Illaunloughan, Co. Kerry: an island hermitage. In M. Monk and J. Sheehan (eds), Early medieval Munster: archaeology, history and society, 102-11. Cork University Press.

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.

O'Sullivan, A. and Sheehan, J. 1996 The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry. Cork University press.