Ecclesiastical site in Baile An Reannaigh

Cillvickillane/Cill Mhic Uíleáin: A large, grass-grown, sandy knoll, crowned by a single ogham stone, is located at the base of a small promontory on the S shore of Smerwick Harbour. It was here that a storm at the end of the 18th century exposed 7 ogham stones, a possible fragment of an ogham stone, a cross-inscribed stone, a number of graves and quantities of bone, and the ruins of several houses (Windele 1838, 145; Chatterton 1839, 190). Windele's sketch of the site shows the ogham stones set out in a rough semi-circle on top of the mound with a slab-lined grave positioned nearby. Chatterton describes the houses as being beyond the mound nearer the sea. Windele interpreted these as the remains of an ancient village, but it has also been suggested that one of the structures, roughly 20 feet x 12 feet (6 x 3.7m), was a church (Curran no. 21). Lord Ventry removed 6 of the ogham stones from the site in the mid-19th century; nos. 1 to 4 now line the driveway to Burnham House/Colaiste Íde, between Dingle and Ventry, and nos. 5 and 6 are preserved in the grounds of Chute Hall near Tralee. Only no.7 is still preserved on the original site. (1) (KE042-057006-) This stone stands 1.18m high and is c. 0.4m wide and .22m thick. An ogham inscription along the right angle of the S face reads: MAQQI CUNITTI The inscription on the left angle reads: (M)A(Q)QI QETTI(A) The M is not now discernible but is recorded by Macalister (1945, 145), Brash (1879, 209) and Ferguson (1887, 44). The first 2 scores of the first Q have all but disappeared, but most earlier accounts include them. After the final I there is a less distinct notch which may represent A; Macalister included this in 1897 but subsequently rejected it in 1945. (2) (KE042-057007-) This stone stands .99m high and is c. 0.33m wide and .22m thick. The inscription runs along both angles of the S face and reads: DUBONIRRAS MAQQI TENAC(I) The final 2 letters are damaged and Macalister (1945, 144-5) stated that 'C is faint but traceable' and I is purely conjectural. (3) (KE042-057008-) This stone stands 1.16m high and is c. 0.34m wide and .14m thick. The reading of the full inscription is uncertain and only the following letters survive: ( )NAVICAS MAQI MUCO(I) ( )S The scores preceeding the N are extremely faint; O'Kelly (annotation to personal copy of Macalister's Corpus) and Windele (1848, 448) interpreted these as OD, whereas Macalister (1945, 146-7) read G followed by R instead of N. The final word, occupying the diametrically opposed angle of the stone, is represented by only a single letter. Macalister supplied the name DOVVINIAS here but no earlier accounts allude to this and it may have been a conjectural restoration. (4) (KE042-057009-) A stone measuring 1.82m high, .26m wide and .25m thick bears the inscription: BROINIONAS (5) (KE042-057010-) This stone stands .96m high and is .51m wide at base narrowing to .18m at the top. Parts of the inscription have worn away and it is now difficult to reconstruct. Macalister (1945, 147) read it as: LUBBAIS MAQQI DUN....S (6) (KE042-057011-) A stone measuring 1.1m high and .29 x .2m at base. Two opposed angles bear the inscription: CCICAMINI MAQQ(I) C(A)TTINI Two of the vowels are no longer traceable but the remainder of the scores are clearly defined. (7) (KE042-057003-) This stone remains standing, heavily inclined to one side, on the summit of the mound at Ballinrannig. It has at some time been re-erected from its former prostrate position (Brash 1879, 212). It measures 1.76m high x .63m wide at base tapering to . 17m across the top. Macalister (1945, 149) read the inscription as: CUNAMAQQI CORBBI MAQQ(I MUCCOI DOVVINIA)S The initial C is now buried beneath the sand and the first score of the succeeding U is barely discernible. Only the first 2 notches of the I in MAQQI are traceable and the final 2 words are a conjectural reconstruction as this edge is damaged. (8) (KE042-057004-) Hitchcock noted an 8th ogham stone at the site with fragmentary traces of an inscription (Macalister 1945, 150-1). This has not been located. (9) Windele (1838, 208) and Pelham (1804, 227) include drawings of a cross-inscribed stone measuring about 2.5 feet (.76m) in length. It bore a Latin cross with bifid terminals to head and arms; the lower end of the shaft had 2 barb-like projections on either side. The present whereabouts of this stone is unknown. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 792. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013