Children's burial ground

The National Monuments Service's description

This site consists of a heavily overgrown rectangular area, 22.3m N-S x 15m E-W, which is located in the NW corner of a sloping field, overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay to S. It is bounded at its N and W sides by a roadway and by the townland boundary. Up to 150 upright grave-markers occur in the interior, most of which are arranged in N-S rows. These are uninscribed and average .3m high. Much loose stone is scattered throughout the site.
The site is noted in the OSNB as a 'calluragh' (Prior, 11) and is locally referred to as Ceallúnach na Rinne Rua. It is reputed to be the burial place of victims of the Great Famine from the deserted sráidbhaile of Reenroe. The last burial of an unbaptised infant here took place in the early 1960s (Sugrue 1993, 40).

The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 1001. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 30 July 2013