What is recorded here

A wedge-shaped stone platform at Kilmalkedar holds two burial mounds and a small inscribed cross, marking an Early Christian place where the hill meets Smerwick Harbour. People may have gathered there to remember the dead, pray beside the cross, or watch the water below. The stones still tilt and crowd like a chamber built for company rather than display.

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. (13) (KE042-026013-) Fig. 192h A roughly wedge-shaped platform measuring 12.45m NNE-SSW x 3.65 to 5.1m ENE-WSW x a maximum of .57m in height. Its W edge is faced with drystone walling and the upper surface is partly enclosed by a number of prostrate slabs and stones set on edge. A mound of stones, 2 x 1.8m x .51m in height, occupies the N part of the platform and a rectangular mound of stones, not unlike a leacht feature, occupies the S part of the platform. The latter mound is at least 3.1m long SSW-NNE, 1.6m wide and .54m high and its W side is faced with drystone masonry. A small stone cross (KE042-026023-), .62m high and .43m wide, was discovered lying at the W side of this 'leacht'. One of its faces is inscribed with a possible cross. 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

Linked to Saint Molua (Maoilchéadair), an early Irish saint associated with the founding of monastic sites in Munster; the site is traditionally connected with Christian worship and pilgrimage, and local folklore may associate it with healing or spiritual renewal, as is common with many early monastic locations in the region.

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