What is recorded here

Bellhill in County Offaly holds a double-banked monastic enclosure, a low motte, the base of a round tower and the ghost of a thatched stone house that became a parish church by 1568. Tradition attributes the foundation to St Kieran the Elder in the fifth century, while the later military additions suggest the site kept adapting as belief, power and danger changed around it. What is gone is as present as what remains: a small community, a ruined church, six cottages and a life measured in shillings, all absorbed into earthworks that still divide the field into rooms no longer named.

Unlocated settlement and watermill that is mentioned in 17th century historical documentation (Loeber 1988, vol. 5, 24-5). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

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