Basement of Killashee
The remarkably well-preserved early medieval basement of Killashee ( Irish Cill Uasaile ) was discovered in 2015 by archaeologists Will O'Siorain and Robert Breen south of Naas ( Irish An Nás ) in County Kildare , Ireland . Research suggests that the construction and use of the majority of the basements were between 750 and 1250 AD . In the case of basements, a distinction is made between “earth-cut”, “rock-cut”, “mixed”, “stone built” and “wooden” (e.g. Coolcran, County Fermanagh ). The basement of Killashee is a "stone built" basement.
The basement, rediscovered in 2015, consists of at least three corridors, the longest of which is almost nine meters. The chamber is 5.16 meters long, 1.22 meters wide and 1.70 meters high. The access between the main aisles is restricted by a very low and narrow slip. The walls of the basement consist of carefully built dry masonry with a ceiling made of large stone slabs. The only artifact discovered inside is an iron sickle that lay on the floor of the chamber.
Killashee is known for being the site of a monastery built near the royal seat of Naas by the Gallic Bishop Auxilius of Ireland, who was one of the first to come to Ireland in the late 4th century. The basement, west of the destroyed church of Killashee, which has been known for some time, comprises a network of corridors with heights of 0.9 to 1.5 m that connect larger chambers. They have been discovered, forgotten and rediscovered several times over the centuries.
See also
literature
- Mark Clinton: The Souterrains of Ireland. Wordwell, Bray Co. Wicklow 2001, ISBN 1-869857-49-6
- Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European Stone Age cult sites. (= Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .
- Brian McCabe: Rediscovery at Killashee. In: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Vol. 139 (2009), pp. 111-116 Published by: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
Web links