Senchathraig na ngennti
Imma rerad rudrad
It fassa cen adrad
Amail lathrach Lugdach.
Old haunts of the heathen
Filled from ancient days
Are but deserts now
Where no pilgrim prays.
Oengus of Clonenagh (c. 800 A.D.).

The Dingle Peninsula, situated on the extreme south-west of Ireland, has had a rich and varied history and, indeed, prehistory. The net result of this, along with the relatively high rate of monument survival in this area, is that there is much here to interest those of an archaeological inclination, both the casual observer and the serious scholar.

The Bronze Age (c. 2200-400 B.C.).
The Dingle Peninsula appears to have experienced something of a population explosion during the Bronze Age, if the quantity of monuments of that period surviving in Corca Dhuibhne are anything to judge by. The wedge-tombs are the last tomb type in the Megalithic tradition of building to have been constructed in Ireland and, it seems, in Western Europe. They are also the only Megalithic tomb type found in the Dingle area. The Dingle Peninsula Archaeological Survey (pub. 1986) recorded ten wedge-tombs. However, their modest size in comparison with their better known relatives, such as passage tombs, means that many examples may remain undiscovered in the landscape. Indeed, a previously unidentified wedge-tomb was recently discovered by a local archaeologist built into a wall-system at Ballymore West, Ventry.
Many of the abovementioned standing stones are likely to be of Bronze Age date also. Such standing stones occasionally occur in pairs and, more rarely, in alignments of three or more. The religious and/or ritual nature of these constructions is underlined by the fact that, like wedge-tombs, the alignments are often focussed on specific solar or lunar events. For example, one alignment at Ardamore, Lispole centres on the rising point on the horizon of the sun on the Winter Solstice. Another at Cloonsharragh, Brandon focusses on the rising point of the sun on the Summer solstice.

The Early Iron Age (c. 400 B.C.-450 A.D.).
The Early Iron Age on the Dingle Peninsula is obscure, as it is throughout southern Ireland. The fine metalwork of La Tene type, considered characteristic of Celtic society which supposedly commenced at this time in Ireland, is almost entirely absent from Munster. This is a fact which has led some scholars to suggest that a vigorous Late Bronze Age society survived in the Southern part of the country long after the Iron Age had taken hold in the northern part of Ireland. This matter is very much open to interpretation. It is also difficult to pin down characteristic monument types of the Early Iron Age. On the Dingle Peninsula the inland promontory forts at Caherconree and Faha (the latter being the highest fort in Ireland at 2500 feet or 762m O.D.) may be of this period, as may some of the uninvestigated coastal cliff-top promontory forts, of which there are at least twenty on Corca Dhuibhne.

The Early Christian Period (c. 450-1000 A.D.).
The Early Christian Period is an era for which the Dingle Peninsula is rightly renowned. The new religion appears to have taken root quickly and vigorously in this area, the extent of missionary activity being marked by a wealth of archaeological remains. There are over sixty confirmed early ecclesiastical sites on the Peninsula, as well as a large number of isolated oratories, ogham stones, cross-slabs, souterrains and ancient burial grounds. Many of these monastic settlements took the form of small, isolated communities following an ascetic rule which is sometimes claimed to have been inspired by the great eremitic tradition of early Coptic christianity in the Egyptian desert. Indeed, although absent from the Dingle peninsula, the place name element 'Dysert' is associated with a number of locations which were linked with early Christian foundations. In this context Dysert or desert means an isolated place deserted by people, rather than a desert in the ecological sense. The most thoroughly investigated early monastic site on the Dingle Peninsula is that at Reask, near Ballyferriter (see below). Other religious settlements were less contemplative and more outward-looking in nature. The large ecclesiastical complex at Kilmalkeadar (see below) was, for several centuries, to rival Ardfert in a struggle to become the ruling seat of the Kerry diocese. Other ecclesiastical sites worth a visit are those at Teampall Manchain, in Ballymorereagh and the well-known oratory at Gallarus (see below).

The Medieval Period (c.1000-1600 A.D.). From about the Twelfth Century A.D. on, the new institutions of the Norman feudal system and increasing centralization of power by the Roman church began to tell on the native Gaelic society of west Kerry. A large number of churches were built in this period, although only a handful of these survive today. With the exception of the relatively ornate Romanesque chapel at Kilmalkeadar (see below), these are of quite simple form with little ornamentation and no apparent division between the nave and chancel areas of the church.

The Family Seat of Rahinane.

The chapel at Ballywiheen is a good example of this type. The dominant family in Corca Dhuibhne during the Medieval period was the west Kerry branch of the Hiberno-Norman sept, the Fitzgeralds, who held the title 'Knights of Kerry'. The Fitzgeralds constructed a number of 'castles' (in reality fortified tower-houses) in the western part of the Dingle Peninsula, examples of which survive at Gallarus, Minard and at the family seat of Rahinane (see below). The ruined remains of a family belonging to the Ferriter family may be seen on a headland at Ballyoughteragh near Ballyferriter. This tower fell into disuse after the capture and execution of the Irish poet and rebel leader Piaras Ferriter by the English in 1653. Likewise, all the Fitzgerald castles were either captured or destroyed by Cromwellian forces around 1650, bringing an end to Gaelic supremacy on the Dingle Peninsula. Other interesting archaeological remains from this period worth a visit are the Medieval bridge which still stands at Garfinny to the east of Dingle town and the promontory fort of Dun an Oir, the site of an infamous massacre during the Tudor Period (see below). [Back To Top]

Some Sites Worth a Visit
Listed below are just a small selection of the hundreds of archaeological sites on the Dingle Peninsula which the visitor will find of interest. Apart from the fascination of these archaeological monuments themselves, their builders often chose to site them in some of the most beautiful places on the Peninsula, in locations with a view commanding vast areas of the surrounding countryside. These sites can all be reached from the Rainbow Hostel or from Dingle town itself on foot or by bicycle.
This well-preserved tomb is situated dramatically on the ridge above the tiny village of Caherard (see left), commanding a wide view both south over Ventry, with Dingle Bay and the Iveragh Peninsula beyond, and eastwards over Dingle town. The tomb has three capstones and measures about four metres in length, its long axis being aligned east-west. It seems likely that the tomb was originally surrounded by a low mound or cairn. The tomb is known locally as Leaba an Fhir Mhuimhnigh (the Munsterman's Bed), a name resulting from the connection in folklore between this site and the epic tale of the Fenian Cycle, Cath Fionntra (the Battle of Ventry Beach). In this story the legendary Fianna under Fionn Mac Cumhaill fought with the armies of the King of the World, Daire Domhain, on the strand for a year and a day before the invaders were repulsed with the aid of the Celtic Sea-God Mananann Mac Lir.

Caherconree Hillfort, Camp
On a clear day this fort controls an amazing vista over Kerry and Beyond, with Loop Head in county Clare visible to the north, the Blasket Islands to the west and the Macgillicuddy Reeks, Ireland's highest mountain range, to the south. The fort itself is situated high up (c. 2050 feet / 625 metres O.D.) in the Sliabh Mish mountains. Three sides of the promontory on which it is situated are protected by steep cliffs, while the fourth to the east is defended by a drystone wall which, although collapsed in places, has a maximum height and width of 3 and 4.5 metres respectively. There is some indication of a small bank and shallow ditch outside the wall at north, while the ruined remains of four or five huts abut the inside of the wall. The fort gets it's name from a legendary Kerry man, Cu Raoi Mac Daire, who features in the famous Ulster Cycle of legends. Cu Raoi was a magician and warrior who holds the redoubtable claim to have been one of the few men to defeat the legendary Cuchulainn in battle. Not content with this, Cu Raoi then shaved Cuchulainn's long hair off as a mark of shame! Cuchulainn subsequently gained his revenge by killing Cu Raoi in an act of trickery, when his weapons had been hidden by a treacherous lover.

Reask Early Monastic Site, Ballyferriter
Reask is certainly the most thoroughly investigated site of its type on the Dingle Peninsula, having been exhaustively excavated by Dr. Tom Fanning in the early 1970s. The site has since been conserved by the Office of Public Works. It consists basically of an enclosing wall or vallum, an oratory and graveyard with slab shrine, several beautifully engraved cross-slabs and half a dozen circular cells or clochauns. The graveyard had, like many early Christian cemeteries, been reused in more recent times as a burial place for unbaptised infants refused burial in consecrated burial grounds. Early Christian areas reused in this way are known as ceallunacha. Radiocarbon dates suggest the foundation originated in the Fourth or Fifth Century A.D. Finds from the clochauns include evidence of of iron, bronze and possibly glass-working, as well as wool-spinning. A corn drying kiln situated just outside the vallum at west and a number of quernstones indicates the cultivation of cereals by the monks. Monastic activity at Reask seem s to have ended some time in the Twelfth Century A.D. The recovery of shards of Late Roman Amphorae (known as B-Ware) dating to the Seventh Century suggests that the site had good connections with the wider European world at this time, and we may wonder if such small monastic settlements were really so introverted and cut-off from the material world as has been suggested. Reask is situated about a mile outside Ballyferriter on the main Dingle road. The turn-off for the site is beside Brick's Pub, where one of the best pints of Guinness in Corca Dhuibhne can be consumed while mulling over the virtues of the simple monastic life.

Gallarus Oratory
This tiny church, built with only stone and mud, is one of the best-known archaeological monuments in Ireland. The simplicity of its conception and the almost unbelievable level of masonry skill employed in its construction combine to fashion a building of absolute basics, yet which is hugely pleasing to the eye. As far as durability is concerned, the fact that the oratory has stood for about a thousand years without the use of mortar and without the need for substantial renovation speaks for itself. The building, constructed of sandstone rubble, measures 6. 86 by 5. 74 metres externally. There is a single lintelled doorway in the east and a single small arched window opposite in the western gable. No internal features survive. The roof is formed as an extension of the drystone walls in the technique known as corbelling, using no beams or flags. This building tradition stretches back to the passage tombs of the Neolithic (third Millennium B.C.) in Ireland and was used up until the last century in the Dingle area. The date of construction of this oratory is a subject for debate, but most estimations fall in the centuries on either side of 1000 A.D.

Dunbeg Promontory Fort, Fahan
This fort is situated on the southern cliffs of the Dingle Peninsula at Fahan just off the road between Slea Head and Ventry. Extensive excavations were undertaken here in the late 1970s, as tidal erosion was causing much of the site to fall into the sea. The defences consist of four earthen banks, five ditches and an internal drystone rampart. The banks are up to 1 metre high and 3 metres wide, while the ditches vary between 1 and 1.5 metres in depth. Excavation suggests there may have been a wooden palisade fence surmounting the innermost bank and possibly the second bank. Access to the interior is provided by a causeway kerbed on either side with stone slabs. The inner stone rampart is of impressive dimensions, up to 6.3 metres thick and 3 metres high. Entry is through a lintelled passageway which features bolt-holes allowing the door to be locked from the inside. The bar was controlled from two internal 'guard-chambers', one on either side of the passageway. A drystone built souterrain, starting from within the passage, extends for some 16 metres to the north. The main feature within the rampart is a large stone clochaun, some 7.5 metres in diameter. The main periods of occupation were marked by quantities of sheep, pig, goat, deer, cattle, fish and bird bones, and the interior of the clochaun had three hearth sites, as well as several stake settings suggestive of tripods for holding pots or skins over the fire. This occupation was dated by radiocarbon to the Eighth or Ninth Centuries A.D. A Ditch and fence underlying the stone rampart gave a date of 580 +or-35 b.c., suggesting a much earlier period of activity at this site in the Late Bronze Age.

Rahinane Castle, Ventry
Rahinane castle was constructed in the interior of a pre-existing large bivallate (double banked) ringfort. It is situated on the south side of Mam na Gaoithe, the gap over the hills between Ventry and Ballyferriter parishes, with a commanding view over Ventry harbour and Dingle Bay. Rahinane castle was the seat of the Kerry Fitzgeralds who had several other fortified tower-houses on the western part of the Peninsula. The present structure at Rahinane is likely to be of Fifteenth Century date. The castle was partially destroyed by the Cromwellian forces around the middle of the Seventeenth Century, although the Fitzgeralds remained in occupancy at the site until the early Eighteenth Century. The outer defences are quite formidable, with the depth from the top of the inner bank to the bottom of the ringfort ditch being up to 8 metres in places. There are entrances at the north-west and east sectors of the defences. The castle itself is a rectangular tower-house with projecting turret on the north wall. The keep consists of three storeys. The walls are built of coursed rubble set in a sea-sand mortar, with dressing of wrought sandstone. The ground floor entrance, at the west end of the southern wall, has a slot which originally probably held a portcullis, the machinery of which may have been controlled from an embrasure above the door in the second storey. Little of the turret now survives, but one interior chamber in its ground storey appears to have been unlit and may have been a dungeon. The first floor of the cattle may be reached by a stone staircase, but is difficult to explore, as much of this floor was originally of timber and is now absent. The second floor of the castle is now inaccessible due to collapse of the stair in the south wall.

Dun an Oir (Castelle del Oro), Smerwick
The promontory fort of Dun an Oir, refortified in the Tudor period, lies on the west side of Smerwick Harbour. In 1580 six ships, carrying 600 to 700 Spanish, Italian and Irish soldiers, left Santander and sailed for Dingle. The force was a response by the Pope and the King of Spain to a request for military aid from the rebelling Earl of Desmond and his Gaelic followers. The fleet arrived in Dingle in early September but were turned away by the residents of Dingle town, afeared of the English retribution. The invasion force arrived in Smerwick Harbour on the north of the Peninsula several days later where the troops disembarked and began to fortify a local fort owned by the Rice family at Dun an Oir. When the English forces arrived and set siege on the 8th of October the defences remained uncompleted. The government forces were commanded by Lord Grey and the Earl of Ormond, while the cavalry were led by Edmund Spenser, the poet famed for his composition 'The Faerie Queen'. However, the deeds of Spenser and his compatriots at Dun an Oir were to be less than poetic. A fleet of English ships under Admiral Winter cut off the entrance to the Harbour, preventing any escape by that route. After only three days of siege, and despite having provisions for six months and munitions for 4000 troops, the Spanish commander, Sebastiano di san Giuseppe, surrendered. The same day, October the 10th, all 600 of the garrison, including women, were massacred, beheaded and thrown into the sea. Some 20 people, including di san Giuseppe, were spared.
This site is now much overgrown, but a number of features survive to bear witness to this poignant and savage event. There is an external rampart with maximum height of 1.5 metres. This bank is flanked by two level bastions which an ordnance plan from the 1580 siege shows as bearing a cannon each. The entrance to the fort itself is barred by a deep gulley crossed now by a narrow causeway, but which had a drawbridge at the time of the massacre. The oval promontory, some 26 by 16 metres in size, is surrounded by a low bank. There are two gun emplacements at the fort entrance above the causeway and two or possibly three more at the extreme seaward end of the promontory. The outline of several hut foundations are traceable in the interior. Finds from the site include cannon balls, a rim-sherd of high quality continental ware of 16th Century date, a buckle from a military uniform, a lead ingot and some fragments of cast bronze gun. A memorial erected in conjunction with the Spanish embassy now stands near the site. Local tradition is that many of the victims of the massacre were buried at the early ecclesiastical site of Teampall Ban (the White Temple) on the south-west shore of Smerwick Harbour. This is particularly interesting in the light of the fact that tidal erosion of sand-dunes at the latter site has recently uncovered numbers of skeletons (1996).
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