Fish palace

The National Monuments Service's description

In level pasture beside the W shore of Ballinskelligs Bay. According to Went (1946, 151, fig. 7C) Sir William Petty 'operated a pilchard curing-station here in 1675 and subsequent years. The remains of a building, locally called pailís éisc may in fact, be a successor to one of Petty's presses.' The largely intact, well-constructed, rubble stone walls (T 0.65m; H 2.6m) of a roofless, rectangular structure (int. 15.3m NE-SW; 5m SE-NW) is still known locally as 'pailís éisc' or a fish palace. The damaged entrance (Wth 1.4m; H 1.9m) with a segmental arch of semi-dressed slabs is in the NE wall, facing what appears to be the remnants of a slipway c. 20m to the NE. Two window opes, with flat arches, are in the SE wall. A recently damaged and irregular-shaped opening near the SW end of the same wall may originally have been a window ope. A short passage (L 3m; Wth 1.7m), supported by a quarter-circle stone arch, leads from the higher ground on the NW side of the building to an opening (Wth 1.1m) near the SW end of the NW wall. This rectangular opening is 1.7m above interior floor level. Its function is unclear. This fish palace may have been associated with the remains of an 'ancient hamlet' (KE097-035----) recorded in Ballinskelligs townland.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 30 May 2011