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New discovery at Killowney Little via aerial archaeology



I was doing a little research on a completely different topic (looking at the Kennedy castle at Killowney Big) when I went looking at some of the older aerial photos on
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/.
There on the (year) 2000 aerial photo of the area was a massive crop-mark to the North-west of the castle. I presumed it must have been previously recorded but decided it was worth a look on the Sites & Monuments Record. Amazingly it had never been spotted before. It was probably just because in this particular photo it looks as if some kind of cereal crop had been sown or possibly reseeding had been carried out.
I posted on an archaeology group about it and as luck would have it Colm Moriaty did a bit more research on the Irish Folklore Manuscripts and found some more information on it.
Coincidentally it was me who had originally transcribed the scan but didn't link the two together!

  http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922139/4856034/5012309

"On the eastern side of the Jackson estate Mountpleasant in the field known as Kyle is what is locally known as The Burying Pit. Approaching it from the southern side you enter a small hollow and find yourself facing a large flat rock. A vague tradition exists that Mass was celebrated at this rock at intervals during the penal days. That people were buried in front of this rock and around it is certain as human bones have been unearthed there from time to time.
The place is known as The Burying Pit though when and why it got that name is not known. Tales are told of mysterious lights seen hovering around this place at night time."

So it was known locally as "The Burying Pit". I passed this all on to the local NMS archaeologist and he was delighted to include it on the Sites & Monuments Record. He has classed it as an ecclesiastical enclosure and described it as follows;

"Cropmark of large roughly circular enclosure or natural hollow (approx. diam. 130m N-S; 120m E-W) visible on Digital Globe aerial photographs taken between November 2011 and March 2012. The only upstanding section of the original bank survives at NE where it is incorporated into the present townland boundary. According to the folklore from Ballinree School in the Schools Collection, this field was known locally as the 'Kyle' and the large circular cropmark was known as 'The Burying Pit' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0536, Page 243-4). In the centre of the small hollow or enclosure there was a large flat mass rock where mass was held during the penal times. According to local folklore people were buried in front and around this mass rock and in the past human bones have been unearthed around the mass rock and it was reported that mysterious lights are seen hovering around this place at night time. This last piece of folklore may suggest that the hollow area was not used as a 'Mass Pit' during penal times but also as a possible children's burial ground. Possible ecclesiastical enclosure based on its large size and the fieldname of 'Kyle' which was re-used in penal times as a mass pit and possibly as a children's burial ground. Alternatively the site may have been a large ecclesiastical enclosure with burials inside the enclosure dating from the medieval period."

Its the first time finding something purely from aerial photos and from the comfort of my own home. This is something anyone with internet access can do. So if you have an interest in history or archaeology get on to the aerial photos here and try and find something that hasn't been discovered before.

http://www.bing.com/mapspreview
https://www.google.com/maps
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/
http://webgis.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/

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