Mound, Leataoibh Meánach, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Ritual/Ceremonial
On the lower western slopes of Lateevemore, in the rough wet pasture that characterises this part of the Dingle Peninsula, there sits a modest mound of stones and earth that resists easy classification.
It is not large, measuring roughly five metres across at its base and rising to a flattened top about two metres wide, but its presence in this particular landscape, at the foot of a mountain and on ground that discourages casual wandering, gives it a quiet persistence that larger, more celebrated monuments rarely achieve.
The mound was recorded as part of J. Cuppage's archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region, published in 1986 under the bilingual title 'Corca Dhuibhne: Dingle Peninsula Archaeological Survey', a systematic effort to document the extraordinary density of prehistoric and early medieval remains scattered across this corner of County Kerry. The Dingle Peninsula is one of the most archaeologically layered landscapes in Ireland, and mounds of this kind, whether burial cairns, clearance heaps, or the remnants of older structures, are easily overlooked precisely because they blend so naturally into the terrain. Without excavation, its original purpose remains open; the combination of stones and earth could point to any number of functions across a very wide span of time.