Standing Stones (Gallauns)

Iveleary has the second tallest gallaun in Ireland, at the Ring's farm at Gortnakilla, Ballingeary. Unfortunately, due to neglect by the government agency in charge, it fell and broke in two sometime in Spring 1985. It has, however, been re-erected and may be admired in almost its former glory.
Two groups of standing stones are visible by the roadside between the nearby villages of Reenanaree & Kilnamatyra.
The purpose of all these stones is hard to tell; they may have been associated with some ancient religious practice or have been merely grave, boundary or track markers. They are often orientated NE-SW.
They are generally associated with the bronze age. Some later ones carry inscriptions in the pre-medieval Ogham alphabet and one near Bantry (the Kilnaruan Stone) has christian carvings on it and also carvings of men in boats (St.Brendan?). Of course, these carvings may have been added to an already old stone.
A large and rather ugly standing stone opposite Bealick Mill, Macroom, is said to mark the spot where King Brian Boru fought and won a decisive battle which led to him becoming king of all Ireland.
Other interesting standing stones are situated near the village of Kealkill and also near Carriganimma. where quite a concentration of ancient megaliths exist.

Stone Circles & Alignments

These monuments consist of a ring of free-standing stones, uneven in number and symmetrically arranged so that one stone, the axial stone, is set directly opposite two stones, usually the tallest, marking the entrance to the circle. Characteristically, the stones reduce in height to the axial stone, which is set consistently in the south-western part of the circle. Though divided into two groups, five-stone and multiple-stone circles, they are essentially one type of monument with a common basic design.

Though cremated burials in small unmarked pits were discovered at the a few excavated multiple-stone circles, these monuments are not primarily burial places but are generally regarded as ritual sites where ceremonies took place. Many stone circles appear to have been deliberately orientated so that the main axis of the circle (a line extending from the middle of the gap between the entrance stones across to the centre of the axial stone) is aligned north-east/south-west - those sectors of the horizon in which the sun rises or sets at significant times during the year, an equinox or solstice. As with standing stones alignments & stone circles are situated near the village of Kealkill and also near Carriganimma, where quite a concentration of megaliths exist.
Illustrated is a stone alignment at Millstreet Country Park.

Wedge Tombs

Wedge tombs are the oldest of the four main classes of megalithic tomb, dating from the Late Neolithic - Early Bronze Age period. They consist of huge slabs of stone set on edge, balancing a sloping, table like top. The construction often reminds one of a house of playing cards but these structures are far less ephemeral being built of slabs often weighing several tons each. The resuling chamber decreases in size from front to back. Their original purpose was funerary, containing communal cremated remains, but they are often called "Druids Altars" in Ireland, and some may have been used as altars during Penal Times. The roof slab often has "cup marks", shallow round depressions cut into the stone. When built it is likely that they had a large cairn of rocks and soil built over them, but this has been robbed over the centuries for building. In place names they are often called "Grainne's Bed" or "Diarmuid & Grainne's Bed", referring to a legendary pair of fleeing lovers. A group of wedge tombs is visible by the roadside at Keemcooraboula, Ballingeary.

Ring-Forts, Raths and Liosanna

Forts were ramparts built of earth (raths) and/or stone (cahers or cashels). They have given their name to many Irish towns, for example Rathdrum, Rathfriland, Cahirsiveen and Cashel . Since there are said to be 40,000 forts it would be hard to miss them. This term was used for any strengthened structure including stockades and cattle enclosures. Staigue Fort in Kerry & Dun Aongahsa on the Aran Islands are very impressive examples. They were primarily built and used during the Early Christian period, 500-1200 AD. although some have been proven to date from the bronze age, others were probably in use in some form until medieval times, even until the late 16th. century. Souterrains are artificial, subterranean (or semi-subterranean) structures built to allow access and usually associated with habitation. They are frequently found associated with ring forts and cashels and are thought to have mostly been used for storing foodstuff, although the could have been used as places of refuge in troubled periods.

Fulachta Fhia

Fulachta fiadh usually consist of horseshoe-shaped heaps of heat-fractured stone mixed with charcoal and dark soil, associated with lined rectangular water troughs and hearths. Traditionally they are thought to have been used as devices for cooking meat. Small boulders would have been heated in a fire and then tossed into the water-filled trough. When the water was hot enough joints of meat wrapped in straw ropes were put into the water, temperature being maintained by adding more heated stones at intervals. Experiments have proved that this is possible and in about three hours acceptably cooked meat could be produced.

Recent archaeological thought, however, has suggested that the trough may have had other uses: Ritual bathing and the dyeing & fulling of cloth. Like the modern farm-house sink the fulachta fhia may have been used for a wide variety of purposes during the same period. Our illustration shows a reconstructed example at Millstreet Country Park. There is not much actual archaeological evidence for the roof structure. Excavations and radio-carbon dating show that fulachta fhia date from the bronze age: 2,500-500BC in Ireland. Fulachta fhia also exist near Balleyvourney.

Tower Houses

Tower houses, although often called castles, were really heavily defended dwellings, very necessary for the rich and powerful during times of constant raiding and jockeying for power.
Ireland, in particular the counties of Cork and Kerry, possesses many examples of tower houses, mostly dating from the 15-16th centuries. They were constructed by both Irish and Anglo-Norman families, during the Gaelic revival they were more a status symbols than true castles. Very few are in good condition, having mostly been slighted by Cromwellian troops in the 17th century and/or used as an easily accessible source of good building stone. One of the most famous, and massive, examples is the popular tourist site of Blarney Castle, just north of Cork City. This was the seat of the McCarthys, a clan who seemed to retain power through many political/military struggles.
Inchigeelagh has a good example of a partly restored tower house known as Carrignacurra Castle, just outside the village. This was a seat of the local rulers, the O'Leary Clan. It has an unusual feature in the form of a "redan", a hollow triangular projection from the SE corner, having gunloops to cover the S and E walls.

Castles

True castles are represented in the area by Macroom Castle, said to have been constructed in the reign of King John, 1199-1209, and occupied by the Carew family. It is thought that the castle was built on the site of an earlier stronghold. Its story reflects the trials and tribulations of Irish society over the centuries, passing from the hands of the Carews to the McCarthy Clan , when they became overlords in the region.
In 1650 Bishop Boetius McEgan failed to hold it on behalf of the McCarthys against Cromwellian forces, and McEgan was taken prisoner and hanged at Carrigadrohid. The castle was given, as a reward, to William Penn (whose son founded the state of Pennsylvania) who lived there for some time, and then sold it to the Hollow Sword Blade Company. Similar to the East India Trading Company or the Hudson Bay Trading Company, they were a merchant company who made financial investments in colonial expansion. They eventually sold their interest in the castle to the Bernards of Castle Mahon in Bandon (future Earls of Bandon) who, in turn sold on to the Hedges family. In 1766 Jane Hedges Eyre married Simon White from Bantry House, and the strength of this alliance led to their son, Richard, becoming Earl of Bantry in 1816.
By the end of the 19th century the castle was in the ownership of the glamorous Lady Ardilaun, sister of the last Earl of Bantry, and wife of Arthur Edward Guinness MP, heir of the brewing family. They moved in exciting circles, being friendly with Yeats, and the Laverys, the people that were responsible for developing the Anglo-Irish literary movement. When Macroom Castle was burnt (for the fourth time) during the War of Independence, 1916-22, Lady Ardilaun gave the remains to the Irish people.
The structure dominated the skyline of Macroom until the 1960s when, in a dangerous condition, it had to be demolished. Some parts of the castle are still to be seen in the grounds of the castle demesne, which is a public park, with beautiful riverway walks, situated in the heart of the town. The castle walls with old stone, arches and guns providing an elegant centre for the town but were built in a much later, romantic era. The most impressive view of the almost intact west front of the keep is from the Sullane Bridge at the western end of town..

Clapper Bridges

Old footway bridges consisting of large flat stepping stones, sometimes bridged by slabs. Ballingeary has examples of each in Dromanallig townland, immediately west of the village. Stepping stones lead across a marshy area to a more sophisticated clapper bridge across the River Lee. Dated to the Post Medieval period.

Killíns

KillIíns, literally small cells, are usually remains of churches and their associated burial grounds dating from the 15-16th century and were often in ruins by the 17th. Ballingeary has at least two examples in the form of Teampallín Eachros and Séipéal na Gloire, Currahy. Teampallín Eachros was in ruins by 1602 when O'Sullivan Beare camped there during his epic march to Leitrim. Religious sites of this kind are often associated with burials of unbaptised infants, when the Church refused to bury them on consecrated ground. Hence Plas na Leanai, the childrens patch, a killín near Ballingeary.

Hermitage

We have a hermitage on the island in Gougane Barra. It is situated behind the chapel and the remains date back to the 17th century, although the site is associated with the patron saint of County Cork, St.Finbarr.

Round Towers

Ireland is famous for its round towers. We have none in this parish, the nearest being at Castletown Kinneigh, around 20 miles distant. This is unusual in its being built with an hexagonal base.