What is recorded here

Sean-Bhaile, the Old Town field, still hides its medieval village beneath ordinary soil. The Down Survey named Ballinaboy towne in the 1650s, yet no wall, ridge or even faint shadow remains for anyone walking past. Ploughs have occasionally torn up traces of the lost place, returning fragments of a community that vanished without leaving a grave. The town exists only in memory and map, waiting beneath the grass like a forgotten breath.

According to Coleman (1894, 53), field in this townland named Sean-Bhaile (Old Town) 'in which traces of a former village here have been at times turned up by the plough'. Exact location not known. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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