Kilmainhamwood Civil Parish

A map of Aghamore townland

Aghamore

1. Ringfort (31.3 x 37m). In 1968 this was recorded as an earthen bank with outer fosse. Currently no visible remains.
2. Ringfort (37 x 36m). Raised area with earthen bank and outer fosse. Original entrance at ESE.
3. Ringfort (40 x 34m). Located on a slope overlooking the Kilmainham river. Earthen bank and scarp. No fosse remains but original entrance is at east.
4. Ringfort (39 x 37m). Situated on the crest of a slope overlooking another ringfort. An earthen bank, now planted with trees, and traces of a fosse remain. Possible entrance to NE.
5. Ringfort (55 x 50m). Large circular area defined by an earthen bank with a slight outer fosse. Original entrance at SSE.
A map of Boherlea townland

Boherlea

1. Standing Stone (Height c.0.8m). Triangular shape stone 40m north of a Rath and aligned NW-SE.
2. Ringfort (30.5 x 29.5m). Earthen bank with outer fosse. Possible entrance at south. Standing stone is 40m to the north.
3. Ringfort (Diameter 40m). Raised area with earthen bank and outer fosse. Original entrance at ESE.
A map of Boynagh townland

Boynagh

1. Ringfort (49.5 x 46.5m). Earthen bank, now planted with trees, and outer fosse located on a steep slope. Original entrance may be at SE.
2. Crannog (Diameter c.7m). Discovered in 1955 when the water level on Whitewood Lake dropped. It was surrounded by a double row of piles.
A map of Carnacally townland

Carnacally

1. Ringfort (Diameter 35m). Earthen bank with two outer fosses built on a drumlin hill, with entrance and causeway at SSE.
2. Ringfort (Diameter 34m). Earthen bank built on a drumlin hill with a widened outer fosse and original entrance at ESE.
3. Ringfort (30 x 32m). Earthen bank with an outer fosse and partial secondary outer bank. The fort overlooks a ravine and has a causeway and entrance at ESE.
A map of Coole townland

Coole

1. Crannog (c.18m x 14m x 0.6m high). The island is now attached to the mainland of Newcastle Lake. Fragments of quern were found here.
2. Ringfort (37.5 x 34m). Earthen bank with outer fosse that overlooks Newcastle Lake. Original entrance at SE.
3. Ringfort (42 x 36m). Raised area with earthen bank and partial outer stone facing. There are traces of an outer fosse. Original entrance at ENE.
4. Ringfort (36 x 28m). Marked as a ‘fort’ on the 1836 OS 6″ map as a “D” shaped area with scarps.
5. Enclosure (61.5m x 51m x 3m high). Oval hill with a wide outer fosse. The fosse is 5m wide at SE and has a counterscarp bank.
A map of Eden townland

Eden

1. Bullaun Stone. Sandstone cylinder with a rounded basin. It can be found c. 15m west of the Roman Catholic church.
2. Stone Cross. An older Roman Catholic church was featured here on the 1836 OS 6″ map and this cross was probably associated with it. The cross dates from the 17th century.
A map of Edengora townland

Edengora

1. Ringfort (Diameter 24.5m). Raised subcircular area with only a scarp remaining. There is a ramp entrance at ESE.
2. Rectangular Enclosure (26.5 x 20.5m). Traces of a stone wall footing located within the larger subcircular enclosure with a possible hut site in the centre.
3. Hut Site (Diameter 5m). Stone outline of a circular hut.
4. Subcircular Enclosure (70 x 60m). Outline of a bank and scarps remaining, with a wedge tomb incorporated into the bank to the west. There is a rectangular enclosure to the east.
5. Wedge Tomb (3.4 x 1.2m). Unroofed tomb aligned in a NE-SW direction and incorporated into the west bank of the subcircular enclosure.
A map of Kilmainhamwood townland

Kilmainhamwood

1. Ringfort (Diameter 46m). Earthen bank with fosse and secondary outer bank. Original entrance and causeway ae ESE.
2. Ringfort (Diameter 34m). Raised area overlooking the Kilmainham River, no visible fosse but parts of a bank/scarp remaining.
3. Graveyard (c. 63m x 57m). Circular graveyard which was once the site of a preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller of Kilmainham in Dublin.
4. Church. Kilmainhamwood was a preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller of Kilmainham in Dublin. These were a Catholic military order brought to Ireland by the Normans, who were originally founded to look after pilgrims traveling to the Jerusalem and later spread out across Europe.4 A church associated with the Knights Hospitaller once existed within the old graveyard here.
5. Sheela na Gig. Sheela-na-gig buried recorded as being buried in the ground in “Kilmainham, on the borders of Louth-Meath, buried in a churchyard near the railway station”.1
6. Font. Rectangular sandstone font (0.58m x 0.58m) with a circular basin.
7. Graveslab. A horizontal slab (L 2.08m x W 1.04m x D 0.12m) with an effigy of a man and a woman beneath an angel’s head. There is no inscription but the tomb dates to c. 1690.
8. Cross Slab (0.46m x 0.13m; H 1.08m). An upright stone slab with a carved cross and rectangular hole near the top.
A map of Newtown townland

Newtown

1. Pre-historic house (6m x 5.5m). A small Neolithic house was found here during the laying of gas pipelines. It was rectangular in shape and consisted of two rooms. Charcoal samples were taken from the foundation trench, the oldest of which may date to as early as 3971BC. The house was also occupied during the Bronze Age, and later again in more recent times.2
2. Pit burial. A pit burial dating from the Bronze Age and containing a small urn was found in the floor of the Neolithic house.
A map of Shancor townland

Shancor

1. Holy Well. Mass was once celebrated at the Mass Rock beside the well in penal days. There was a large ‘watch tree’ in the centre of the Holy Well field and sentries were placed there as look outs while Mass was celebrated.3
2. Ringfort (Diameter 32m). Earthen bank with external fosse located on a steep slope overlooking the Kilmainham River.
3. Ringfort (43 x 38m). Raised subcircular area surrounded by an earthen bank with partial remains of a fosse.
4. Earthwork (c. 35m). Marked as ‘fort’ on the 1836 OS 6″ map but only a scarp remains. Located on a steep slope overlooking the Kilmainhamwood.
A map of Towas townland

Towas (Tavis)

1. Ringfort (38 x 35m). Located on a ridge, earthen bank with a rounded fosse which has been cut into the bedrock in places. There is a secondary outer bank with entrance and causeway at SSE.
2. Souterrain (L 12m, W 4.7m, D 0.5m). A depression in the ground that runs from the centre of the Rath towards the bank is probably a souterrain.
3. Ringfort (Diameter c.50m). Marked as a ‘fort’ on the 1836 OS 6″ map. Located on a steep slope overlooking the Kilmainham River.
A map of Tullyweel townland

Tullyweel

1. Conjoined Ringforts (Diameter c.33m and c.30m). Two separate conjoined circular areas with earthen banks on both, but no signs of a fosse or entrance on either. There is some evidence of a stone facing on the bank of the eastern Rath.
2. Enclosure (Diameter 56.5m). Raised area, partial bank remaining but no visible fosse. Entrance at ESE.

* There are no monuments recorded in Corrananagh or Moorlagh

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References

  1. Guest, E.M. ‘Irish Sheela na Gigs in 1935’ in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 66, pp. 107-29
  2. Cusack, Danny. Kilmainham of the Woody Hollow. Kilmainhamwood Parish Council (1998), p. 93
  3. Cusack. Kilmainham of the Woody Hollow, pp. 89-91
  4. George Lennox Barrow, ‘The Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham’ in Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 38, No. 3 (June, 1985), pp. 108-112

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