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Childrens Burial Ground

Children's burial ground

What is recorded here

Childrens Burial Ground stands as a raised circular platform above Ballinskelligs Bay, holding scattered upright slabs and a low central mound. The name suggests a painful purpose, yet the absent writing and broken stone wall leave that claim floating in legend rather than fact. The bay wind still moves through the gaps where the stone facing collapsed, carrying the place beyond human memory.
Children's Burial Ground: This approximately circular site is located on a slope which overlooks Ballinskelligs Bay to S. It survives as a level platform which is raised 1.5m above external ground level at S, and measures 20.3m x 16.5m. It appears to have been faced with drystone masonry at E and S, but this has largely collapsed. Very few of the uninscribed slabs in its stony interior remain in an upright position. However, there are some large upright slabs near the centre of the site, where a low, stony mound, 3.5m x 1.9m x .25m high, also occurs. A semicircular line of upright slabs, .7m high, flanks its E end. 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. 1010. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 July 2013

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What survives
Recorded monument

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