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Ballaglonney Keeill

Archaeology

The site of a chapel and burial ground thought to date to the period AD 500-1000. The site is situated on a terrace on land which falls to the northeast and appears to be a position suitable for the location of a keeill, though there is no confirmation that one existed here. The field is grass covered and there is no visible trace of a chapel or certain trace of a burial ground enclosure remaining. 


The site is depicted on the 1870 Ordnance Survey map as a minute rectangle. Canon E.B. Savage writing in 1885 stated that the chapel, apparently built on a tumulus, lay on an east to west axis, was of turf construction and 20 feet long x 12 feet wide, although gorse growing across the site made an exact measurement difficult. The angles of the building were noted to be rounded. Bruce stated that there was no basis for a claim that an ogham stone had been found at the site, but this appears to relate to the discovery of such a stone at Ballaqueeney.  A 'grain rubber' is said to have come from this keeill, which was donated to the Manx Museum in 1921. The site was visited by J.R. Bruce in 1963-65 who described on oval area, about 35 feet in its longer diameter and raised about 4 feet above the general level. The edges of this area were irregular and suggested encroachment by ploughing. Some ill-defined banks less than 1 foot high within the oval area could not be interpreted clearly, while in the same field, 30-40 yards south of the oval site, a very slight 'step' ran east and west for a few yards - conceivably a remnant of a burial ground bank.

Connections

Book Chapters

  • Parish: Arbory
  • Sheading: Rushen
  • Grid Ref: SC2568072710

Sources

  • Isle of Man Heritage Environment Record
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