Beginish Island
| Beginish Island | ||
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| Waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 56 ′ 13 ″ N , 10 ° 18 ′ 10 ″ W | |
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| length | 2 km | |
| width | 1.2 km | |
| surface | 98.6 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 64 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Beginish Island ( Irish Beiginis , "small island") is a small, shallow tidal island between Valentia Island and the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry , Ireland , which is accessible on foot at low tide .
At the east end of Beginish Island is a cluster of 15 cairns , eight cattle shelters, and eight houses dating from the 10th and 12th centuries. The houses appear to be evidence of a temporary presence of Vikings in the 10th century. The not fully excavated houses 6 and 7 have rectangular floor plans and contain a grindstone, a bowl made of soapstone and a ringed needle, all parts of Scandinavian origin. House 1 was dated to the 11th century AD and is believed to be of Scandinavian-Irish descent. It is a pit house , the floor of which is 1.5 m below the surface. Its walls are made of dry masonry . It was originally covered with a thatched roof with beams placed in holes in the wall. The 1.85 m long, 0.45 m wide and 0.1 m thick lintel is made of sandstone . A small cross and a runic inscription are pecked into its surface . The text says: "Verr built this stone and Munuflr carved the runes". The house must have been built later than the stone originally erected elsewhere. The lintel is in the Cork Museum .
Beginish was excavated by Michael J. O'Kelly in the 1950s and reinterpreted by John Sheehan and colleagues in the early 21st century.
literature
- John Sheehan, Steffen Stummann Hansen & Donnchadh Ó Corráin: A Viking Age Maritime Haven: A Reassessment of the Island Settlement at Beginish , Co. Kerry. In: The Journal of Irish Archeology 10 (2001) pp. 93-119.