Home

Who
What
Where
When
Why
Kildreelig Oratory
 

County

Kerry

Coordinates

N 51° 47' 47.7"   W 010° 18' 38.52"

Nearest town

Ballinskelligs

Grid Ref.

V 40626 63004

Map No.

83

Elevation a.s.l. (m)

120

Date of visit

Tuesday 14 June 2016

GPS Accuracy (m)

3
Show Google Map              Show Monuments in the area

    
    
    
    
 
PREVIOUS      NEXT
The cluster of stones on the slope to the sea.


Reaching this site is an enthrilling adventure, because the narrow road that climbs up the cliffs is breathtaking in the true sense of the word!
On the slope to the sea there's a circular stone enclosure which includes the remains of an oratory, a souterrain, some stone huts, two wonderful cross slabs and what it seems a religious building. The settlement looks really old and could be dated to the 5th or 6th century.
The place is really overgrown and it is hard to tell things among the vegetation.
In the northeast quarter of the enclosed structure is the oratory, a small stone building with walls 1 metre thick and with inner dimension of 2.80 metres x 2.10 metres. It has a lintelled doorway in the southwest wall which is 60 centimetres wide and 75 centimetres high.
Opposite the oratory there are two stone huts or cells, likely the poor residences of the monks of this settlement.
North of the oratory is a beautiful cross slab which is 1.06 metres tall, 32 centimetres wide and 10 centimetres thick. On its west face a cross resembling a wheeled cross is carved, its diameter is 29 centimetres.
Another cross slab is just outside the enclosure, about 20 metres north (0°) from the first slab. In my opinion this slab is nicer than the first one. It has an inscribed carved cross with a diameter of 32 centimetres and with a vertical carved shaft of 1.03 metres. The slab measures 1.28 metres of height, 35 centimetres of width and 10 centimetres of thickness.
Another stone structure is at the far west end of the enclosure, probably a religious building, though it's hard to identify any feature except a large lintel stone in the west wall.
The views from up here are absolutely stunning, especially in a sunny and dry day like the one we had!


Browse by Monument Type
Browse by County
Browse by Date of Visit
Browse by Map Number

A-Z List

Clickable Counties
Clickable OS Maps Grid

Find a Map

Multimap

The days before GPS

The Stones in the Movies

Glossary
Links
Guestbook
FAQ

What's NEW?


Search


Site view counter: 21759108

Copyright © 1994-2024 Antonio D'Imperio
All the photos, the graphics and the texts on this website are automatically copyrighted to me under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1886. Any violation of the copyright will be pursued according to the applicable laws.

info@irishstones.org

Powered by AxeCMS/CustomEngine(V0.25.00 build 999) by Sergio "Axeman" Lorenzetti. (C) 2009-2015

counter