What is recorded here

Number 564 in Ráithín Uí Bhuaigh leans against a collapsed grave with its corner broken and a rare interlaced triangle cross carved lightly into thin stone. The graveyard stands above Dingle Harbour, marked on old maps for Ventry’s 1870 works and the buried curve of the earlier enclosure. Dunne recorded sixteen unlisted slabs there in 2010, suggesting this is not one lost monument but a forgotten field of them, still waiting to be read.

In 2010 a graveyard survey carried out by Laurence Dunne recorded the following details about a cross-slab no. 564: 'Raheenyhooig- Ráithín Uí Bhuaigh Graveyard [KE053-059002-] is situated on elevated ground, at 50m OD, sloping towards and overlooking Dingle Harbour 0.8km to the north. Examination of the 2nd Edition of 1896 clearly shows the enormous changes that Lord Ventry made in 1870 including the planting of trees, construction of squared off enclosing banks and new roadway as well as the Ventry mausoleum-denoted ‘Vault’ on the map. An ‘L’ shaped pathway is also shown. Of particular interest is the denotation of the remains of the previous enclosure [KE053-059001-] or raheen of the burial ground by a curving array of hachures. In the course of this study a coherent section of the early enclosure and at least thirty archaeological artefacts (mainly cross-slabs) were recorded at Raheenyhooig. Sixteen previously unrecorded cross-slabs were recorded in Raheenyhooig Graveyard. They are disposed around the centre of the graveyard within the limits of the earlier enclosure. Two of the cross-slabs (74, 564) are loose while a third (57) lies flat on the surface. Cross-slab (564) is a thin rectangular slab with upper LH corner broken. The stone features a lightly incised motif comprises interlaced triangular panels set within a square, pendant to which is a vertical shaft of three lines and two arms with ‘C’ scroll returns. This particular interlaced motif is not paralleled in the corpus of cross-slabs on the Dingle or Iveragh Peninsulas although the ‘C’ scrolls feature on a number of early slabs. The cross-slab lies somewhat loosely and precariously against a collapsed lintelled grave' (Dunne 2010, 12). See attached plan and photograph courtesy of Laurence Dunne Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne Date of upload: 28 June 2022

Probably dating to the early Christian period (5th–11th century AD), the cross-slab may have marked a burial or served as a memorial, reflecting Christian symbolism in a rural or monastic context. Local folklore or specific traditions associated with the site are not recorded.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.