2000:0450 - KILLEENS, Tralee, Kerry

Testing was carried out on an enclosure at Killeens on the Collis-Sandes Demesne, Tralee, from 24 May to 13 June 2000, to ascertain if it was archaeological in nature. The proposed development site contains a large portion of a circular enclosure, which, although not recorded in the Record of Monuments and Places as an archaeological feature, was recently identified as such from cartographic sources and aerial photographs and by subsequent field examination (Connolly, forthcoming).

Because of the shape and large size of the monument, it was thought that it might have represented the enclosure of an early medieval monastery, a later medieval ecclesiastical site or a children’s burial-ground. The fourth possibility was that the enclosure represented a 19th-century estate feature related to the Collis-Sandes Demesne. Two such features are located on either side of the monument in question, abutting the same field boundary. These features are not illustrated on the first edition (1841) OS map of Kerry (Sheet 29). On this map, the line of trees in the area of the monument forms an arch shape, and it was possible that they respected the boundary of a pre-existing feature.

The site is located in the townland of Killeens just to the north of the Urban District of Tralee. The monument is located on a gentle south-facing slope and commands panoramic views of Tralee and Blennerville to the south and south-west. Examination of an aerial photograph and an instrument survey revealed that the monument was 100m in external diameter and of a very coherent circular shape. Today it is centrally bisected north-west/south-east by a field boundary, and the northern extent of the monument is completely covered in dense undergrowth. The above-ground remains consist of a raised platform with a narrow and shallow external ditch that survives more coherently in the southern quadrant. The monument was enclosed by a bank, slight remnants of which can be clearly traced on the ground and on aerial photographs.

Internally the monument rises gradually above the surrounding ground and achieves an average internal height of 0.55m. The northern and eastern extent of the monument could not be traced owing to the estate plantation. The internal ground is very uneven with numerous humps and hollows and dense undergrowth. To the east of the proposed development site stand the remains of a disused or abandoned parkland, walled gardens, ancillary buildings and the relict remains of a 17th-century estate house, which consist of a tall, three-storey gable section, a low wall and a linear mound of rubble. This extensive parkland and house were purchased by Maurice Sandes in 1849, who built a new estate house called Collis-Sandes House that still survives today.

Testing consisted of two trenches perpendicular to each other across the site. Trench 1 was located along the eastern side of the truncated enclosure and was laid out parallel to the existing field boundary. It ran north–south from almost the centre of the enclosure for 78m, extending beyond the southern edge of the enclosure for 22.5m. It was 3m wide. Trench 2 cut across the middle of the truncated enclosure and was laid out perpendicular to Trench 1 and the existing eastern field boundary. It ran east–west from almost the centre of the enclosure (and Trench 2) for 66m, extending beyond the southern edge of the enclosure for 28m. It was also 3m wide. The site in this area is heavily overgrown with long grasses and shrubs and gently slopes from north to south and slightly to the east towards the ditch.

The sod was quite shallow and was removed from the cuttings with an average depth of 0.1m. The topsoil was excavated, uncovering a series of features cut into the subsoil. The features consisted of over thirty field drains and modern dumps and are not of archaeological significance. The most interesting feature was the enclosing ditch and associated stone blocks. Both trenches cut through the enclosing ditch. It was 0.5m deep and 0.76m wide (max.) with sharp sides and a flat bottom. It had silted up naturally and contained remains of iron railings and 19th-century pottery. There were 31 limestone blocks placed every 2.5m along the interior of the ditch. They had sockets containing iron uprights that would have supported an enclosing fence. The evidence would appear to indicate that the enclosure functioned as some sort of enclosed garden or tree ring associated with the nearby estate house. The pottery and cartographic evidence indicates a 19th-century date for the enclosure.

3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry