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Archaeological Inventory |
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Colaiste Ide Ogham Stones, Co. Kerry
Location:Burnham House. Lord Ventry's estate. Lining the driveway to Colaiste Ide/Burnham House. From Dingle take the R559 west
after 2.5 kilometers there should be a sign for Colaiste Ide on the left. It is posted as a private drive, but the stones
are prominently placed at the side of the road before one comes to the school buildings. Hard to miss.
Dimensions: BALIG/1: 1.05 x 0.57 x 0.2. According to Macalister/1945, 144, this stone was found
`in an ancient burial-ground, called Kilvickillane, on the shore of Smerwick Bay'. It was subsequently
transferred in 1848 to Burnham, the seat of Lord Ventry, where it remains. CARRICAIMAQQITENAC[I] in worn condition.
BALIG/21.27 x 0.38 x 0.2 MAQQI QETTIA (on right) MAQQI CUNITTI (on left angle). BALIG/3
1.22 x 0.23 x 0.28 GRAVICAS MAQI MUCOI [DO]VVINAS Complete inscription in good condition. Macalister/1945, 146,
refers to one of the angles of the stone being chipped away. BALIG/4 0.91 x 0.23 x 0.25 The top of the
stone is broken. BROINIONAS BALEE/1 1.93 x 0.33 x 0.36 Sandstone pulvinar found in 1790 by Henry Pelham `in the middle of the
village' {which he calls `Ballyfeeny'). Sometime before 1804 it was broken into two pieces, and part of the back of the
stone was flaked away, as the result of kindling a fire against it. When Brash saw it, it was still on or near its
original site: but it was afterwards removed to Burnham. On the surviving portion of the original back of the stone
there is a small plain cross at one end, according to Macalister. MOINENA MAQI OLACON BRHAM/1 1.02 x 0.38 x 0.33
A pulvinar resembling the Ballintaggart group, in the collection brought together by Lord Ventry, and still in the grounds
of Burnham: the original provenance is unrecorded. MAQQI ERCCIAS MAQQI MUCOI DOVINIA Many of the scores are extremely faint
and only the last word can now be traced in full. We are still researching the remaining upright ogham stone on the
extreme right at one faces the collection of stones.
Features: Five upright ogham pillars arranged in a row behind two mounted dark pulvinar ogham stones with
a small cross slab and bullaun about the center behind the pillars.
Comments: What a lovely collection this is and in remarkable condition given that they remain exposed. These
can be observed up close even in the foulest weather, given their proximity to the road.
History: Four of the upright ogham pillars (all but the stone on the far right as you face this collection)
were originally found in Ballinrannig (Cillvickillane/Cill Mhic Uileain) located at the base of a small promontory
on the south shore of Smerwick Harbor. At the end of the 18th century, a storm exposed 7 ogham stones, a possible
fragment of an ogham stone, a cross-inscribed stone and a number of graves and human bone as well as the ruins of
several houses. A sketch of the time shows the stones in a roughly semi-circular arrangement on top of a mound with
a nearby slab-lined grave. Lord Ventry removed six of the stones from the site, placing four at his residence at
Burnham house and the other two at the residence of his nephew at Chute Hall near Tralee. The seventh stone was left
at the original site, though it is reported to have disappeared. It is likely to have been re-covered with sand.
Other Items of Interest: Behind the display of five upright ogham stones and the two torpedo-like pulvinar
sandstone boulders, is a tiny double armed cross-slab abutting a small bullaun, looking rather font-like. Because of their
diminutive sizes, they can be overlooked, particularly if they have been overgrown with moss, as is often the case.
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