What is recorded here
Children died young in that ridge country, and the adults gave them a flat stone chamber instead of a forgotten hole. The platform still stands at the field's edge, raised slightly where the slope falls, with upright slabs and fallen slabs across its surface. It is not on the public maps, but the stones have kept their shape while human life moved on around them.
This site, not marked on the OS maps, is located in the NW corner of a field, on the S slope of a ridge that overlooks Ballinskelligs Bay to SE. Known locally as a ceallúnach, it consists of an approximately square platform, 10m N-S x 13m E-W, which is raised 1.6m above ground level on its downslope side. At N it is flush with the level of the field. A small group of upright slabs and a number of large recumbent slabs, 1.5m long and .5m wide on average, occur on the site.
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. 1008. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.
Date of upload: 30 July 2013
Children's burial ground in Formaoil is a prehistoric cist burial site, likely dating to the Early Christian or Bronze Age period. Its local designation as a *ceallúnach* suggests a tradition of small, simple burials, possibly for children, and reflects the area's long-standing funerary customs.
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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