Standing stone

The National Monuments Service's description

National monument in state ownership No. 459. Situated on elevated grassland with commanding views of the surrounding countryside. Partially levelled ringfort the levelling of which was described in 1869 when Dunraven (1866-9, 433) recorded that the monument had 'been partly levelled for the purpose of tillage'.
Present remains consist of a large ringfort (LI028-102----) known locally as the 'Ardagh Fort' with the possible site of a standing stone built into the external face of the enclosing bank which was destroyed in the early 1800s. According to Dunraven this possible standing stone, was known locally as; 'Reerasta Cloch'. This stone was described by Dunraven (1866-9, 434) as following; 'Formerly, a large stone, called Reerasta Cloch, stood on, or formed part of, the external face of the bank; this stone was broken up within the present century'. No surface remains visible of any levelled standing stone.
Durnaven recorded the following about the discovery of an Early Christian hoard including the 8th century Ardagh Chalice at the ringfort (LI028-102----) in 1868. Dunraven (1866-9, 433) wrote that; 'Towards the end of September, 1868, her son [widow Quin, the owner] was digging potatos in the fort at the south-western side. On reaching the base of the bank, and close to a thorn bush, he found the surface soft: he drove the spade down between the roots of the thorn, and felt it strike against something hard, like metal. While clearing the earth and roots to see what this could be, he thrust down his hand, and laid hold of the long pin of a fibula. He then excavated to the depth of about three feet, and found a most beautiful cup laid in the earth, with a rough flag stone on one side of it, and inside the cup was a smaller cup and four fibulae. The small cup was the only article broken by the stroke of the spade. Excavations have been since made in the immediate vicinity of the spot where these articles were found, but nothing has turned up'. The landowner at the time was a widow named Quin who informed the Earl of Dunraven (1866-9, 433) that 'about twenty years ago, while tilling the ground, a beautiful chalice of gold was turned up about fifty yards west of the fort', however, 'one day her children took it out of the house to play with, and that she never saw it again.' The hoard from the SW quadrant of the ringfort contained a silver chalice, a bronze chalice, and four brooches (de Paor 1977, 138). The silver chalice, known as the Ardagh Chalice, is 'the finest piece of eight-century metalwork' from Ireland (ibid.). This hoard is now kept in the National Museum of Ireland (NMI 1874:99).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 11 June 2018

References

de Paor, L. 1977 The Christian triumph: The golden age. In P. Cone (ed.) Treasures of early Irish art, 1500 B.C. – 1500 A.D., 93-144. New York.

Dunraven, The Earl of. 1866-69 On an ancient cup and brooches, found near Ardagh in the County of Limerick. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 10, 458-9.