ballaum stones
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Archaeology Around Glenmore
The National Monuments Service has a Historic Environment Viewer (HEV) that allows a person to look at archaeology in the townland where you live or where your ancestor lived. In the upper left corner just type in your townland e.g. Rathinure, Glenmore, Kilkenny. The HEV is a free digital service provided by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Some of the most common archaeology recorded in the parish of Glenmore and adjacent parishes include: [1] standing stones; [2] fulacht fia; [3] Ballaum stones: [4] ringforts/raths; [5] barrow mounds.
[1] Standing stones are also call gallauns or menhirs. They can stand alone or be part of a group of stones. There are over 5,000 standing stones recorded across Ireland. Theories abound regarding their purpose, from pre-historic burial markers to markers of tribal boundaries or paths. It is believed that they were erected during the late Neolithic and Early Bronze age, roughly 3,300 B.C. to 1,200 B.C. The photo is of the Three Friars standing stones of Smithstown, Tullogher, Kilkenny. (Photo by Kieran Campbell).
[2] Fulacht fia were pits dug into low lying ground. Sometimes these pits were lined with stones or wood. Often cracked stones are found heaped nearby suggesting that the stones were heated in a fire and placed in the water in the Fulacht fia. There are numerous theories regarding the purpose of the fulacht fia. Originally it was believed that meat such as venison was boiled in it. Other people have argued that it would be easier to roast the meat over a campfire. It has also been suggested that these were brewing vessels, bathing spots or dye vats. It is believed that the majority of fulacht fias were built during the mid– to late Bronze Age roughly, 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. Because they are mainly earthen they are easily damaged or destroyed. There have been about 7,000 fulacht fias recorded in Ireland.
[3] Ballaum stones are large stones with one or more man-made bowl-shaped depressions or basins. The Irish word bullán means bowl. These stones are often found around early Christian monastic sites, holy wells and ancient churches usually from the Early Medieval perior roughly, from the 5th through 12th centuries. A good example of a Glenmore ballaum stone is the “headache stone” adjacent to Kilcoumb Church ruins.
[4] Ringforts or raths are very common. There are about 1,200 raths recorded in County Kilkenny. It is thought that raths were the dwelling places of farmers from about 500 to 1000 A.D. Although they vary greatly in size they were circular mound structures and were often located near important routes and resources. Some raths had one ditch others had two or more ditches. Excavations have revealed that raths were used for more than just shelter. It is thought that that in addition to shelter for farmers, livestock and crops raths often had workshops such as for the production of pottery and metal works. In some parts of Glenmore all the raths in the townland were within view of each other possibly to provide security.
[5] Barrow mounds are prehistoric burial monuments. They are usually circular or oval of earth forming a mound. They are usually encircled by a ditch. Barrow mounds in Ireland usual date from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age or roughly from about 2400 B.C. to 400 A.D. They are not nearly as old as the Neolithic passage tombs such as Newgrange. The National Monuments Service has divided the barrow mounds into seven types. There are over 3,000 barrows recorded across Ireland. Due to the fact that Barrow mounds are usually surrounded by a circular ditch they are often mistaken for raths.
New Infrastructure Findings : Ballyverneen, Glenmore
When new infrastructure is being built, such as roads, archaeologists are employed to check the infrastructure site for archaeology. During the construction of the 14 km New Ross by pass, 35 previously undocumented archaeological sites were found. Unfortunately, for Glenmore only a small fraction of the 35 undocumented sites were in Glenmore and were not considered significant. Of the 16 townlands involved along the by-pass route four townlands were in Glenmore including: Jamestown, Graiguenakill, Forestalstown (sic), and Ballyverneen.
There were three Ballyverneen sites. Ballyverneen 1 was easternmost and consisted of a short linear feature and a shallow pit. Ballyveneen 2 consisted of three small pits which contained charcoal rich fills with flecks of burned bones. Ballyverneen 3 contained a curvilinear feature with burned material in the fills and a further three features of uncertain archaeological significance. (See the Archaeological Excavation Report, E4531, Ballyverneen 1,2, 3, Co. Kilkenny). It is believed that charcoal was being produced at the Ballyverneen 2 site. See generally, Digital Repository Ireland website (DRI).
Other helpful websites to learn about sites in your townland include: the Kilkenny Digital Archieve, Excavations.ie; and TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland).
For further information concerning the New Ross Bypass excavations see, James Eogan (2024) “Nine Millennia of life on the Banks of the ‘goodly Barow:’ Archaeological Excavations on the N25 New Ross Bypass in South-east Ireland,” The Past website.
The featured photo above is the Three Friars standing stones in Smithstown, Tullogher by Kieran Campbell (Wikimedia Commons).
See our post of 7 July 2021 regarding Glenmore castles.
Please send any corrections, additional information or photos to glenmore.history@gmail.com .
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh