What is recorded here

Emlagh Basin is a shallow bowl hidden behind the hills, where Emlagh Bay indents the west coast and the old field boundary still traces the edge of the drowned valley. Valencia Island rises above it like a green ridge marked by cliffs, grass and the memory of a place that once stood in open water. The name Emlagh may preserve a forgotten townland, a field or a boundary lost when the sea changed the shape of the coast. What remains is a small clear place: water, grass, rock and the line of the old valley written across the land.

A stone cross and two uninscribed pillar stones are located on a slight rise close to the E edge of the bog-covered Emlagh Basin, at the NW end of Valencia Island. The site (KE087-004001-), not marked on the OS maps, affords extensive views of the Atlantic and of the Blasket Islands to NW. Delap recorded that they were only recently 'raised to their present position' (1911, 410), and they stood in a roughly N-S line when seen by Westropp (1912, 301). The pillar stones now lie prostrate, adjacent to the upright stone cross. further S of the cross stood the taller pillar (KE087-004003-), six feet ten inches (2.1m) high (Westropp, ibid.). At present this pillar lies prostrate, 2.5m W of the cross, in a heap of loose stone. It measures 2.9m x .56m x .16m thick. The smaller stone is not identifiable. A row of low upright stones, 2m in overall length, occurs just E of the cross. Legend associates the site with St Brendan, the two pillar stones reputedly marking the graves of two men whom he baptised here (Delap 1911, 406-7). A bronze sword was found near this location in the last century (NMI 1893:40). 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. 941. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 July 2013

Likely dating to the early Christian period, the stone cross suggests a religious or memorial function, while the uninscribed pillar stones may have had ceremonial or territorial significance. Local folklore or specific use is not recorded.

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