What is recorded here

Blackstones Iron Works fired for over eighty years near the Caragh River, turning local ore into usable metal before abandonment. The ruined furnace still sits embedded in the hillside, its casting arch open like a mouth that stopped speaking. Slag and broken iron scatter beside it, marking the violence of heat and the patience of men who fed it.

In pasture, on the W-facing slope of a hillock near the E bank of the Caragh River. The remains of this iron-working site consist of the ruins of a 17th-century blast furnace. The furnace is a square structure (7.2m N-S; 7m E-W) built into the slope. Part of a random rubble wall (T 1.5m; H c. 5m) stands at W while the N and E walls are in ruins. At S the remains of a casting arch is indicated by a splayed opening (Wth 4.4m; L 2m; H 2m) with traces of voussoirs at its W side. Vitrified stones, slag, a block (1.25m x 0.15m x 0.15m) of cast-iron and a U-shaped piece of cast iron lie on the ground nearby to the S. Traces of a ramp, which provided access to the top of the furnace, are visible on the higher ground to the E. Ruins of miners' houses lie c. 50m to the S. The Blackstones Iron Works was in operation for over eighty years between c. 1670 and 1754 (McCracken 1971, 166). 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

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