What is recorded here

Kilmalkedar’s lost cross stood beside an old church at the foot of Reenconnell hill, carrying dates from 1690 to about 1736 and the words GOD REST THEM beneath IHS. That is a young cross for a place so steeped in older silence, perhaps set up later to mark graves or remember a changed community. The cross is gone now, preserved only in a photograph, but its words still point downward into the harbour dark, naming the dead instead of praising the living.

The Early Christian and Medieval ecclesiastical complex at Kilmalkedar (KE042-026----) lies at the foot of the W slopes of Reenconnell hill, overlooking Smerwick Harbour. The Reenconnell ridge peaks at 907 feet/276m to NE of the site and the area around Kilmalkedar is sheltered on its N and S sides by spurs of this hill. (19) A stone cross formerly in the graveyard at Kilmalkedar was inscribed on one face with dates ranging from 169(0) to c. 1736. The inscription IHS was carved in relief at the crossing of arms and shaft and beneath this was the inscription GOD REST THEM. The head of the cross bore a small cross in relief with I(M)RI carved at its centre. This cross is now missing and the only record is a photograph in the OPW files. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 855. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 8 August 2013

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