What is recorded here

Half a metre of local sandstone stands gable-shaped among three hundred unnamed dead, pierced at its heart by a hole no wider than a thumb. A small circular notch at the top suggests a failed first attempt or a deliberate mark, while rough trimming along the edge shows human hands shaping the stone rather than leaving it to weather. The graveyard sits high on the slopes of Leathaoibh, looking south across Dingle Harbour and Mount Brandon, so the dead have watched the sea and the mountain for centuries. The hole may have held a rope, a rod, or a chain, but its exact use has gone quiet. What remains is a slender stone with a narrow wound, set among notched markers and cross-slabs where the medieval church of Kildrum once stood.

In 2010 a graveyard survey carried out by Laurence Dunne recorded the following details about Holed-stone No. 1120: 'Kildrum Graveyard is situated on the N side of the Dingle Peninsula 4km NE of Dingle. It is situated on an elevated site at 50m OD on the lower ENE slopes of Leathaoibh with views S over Dingle Harbour and Mount Brandon to the NE. The old graveyard [KE043-130001-] is studded with around three hundred small unnamed headstones, notched grave markers and cross-slabs that are disposed around the interior. The spatial and density patterning of these gravemarkers most likely reflect the location of the medieval church [KE043-130----] and also the oval enclosure that is evident on the 1st Ed OS map of 1841. There are no visible, above ground, coherent, remains of the medieval church of Kildrum today. Three holed-stones, (1098, 1120 & 1122), were recorded within the old burial ground at Kildrum. Holed-stone (1120) of local sandstone with a small hour–glass perforation, diameter 25mm, centrally disposed. The stone is somewhat gable shaped of un-dressed sandstone 0.46m x 0.41m x 0.045m. Interestingly there is a small circular notch at the top of the stone as well that may reflect either a deliberate notch or a broken previous attempt at perforation. This notched section of the slab has also been roughly trimmed. See attached plan and photographs courtesy of Laurence Dunne Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne Date of upload: 27 June 2022

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