Kilmalkedar

Kilmalkedar is on the Dingle Peninsula, east of Ballyferriter and northwest of Dingle. The monument is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. == History ==

Kilmalkedar is traditionally associated with Saint Brendan (c. AD 484 – c. 577), but also with a local saint, Maolcethair (, , Malkedar; died 636). The surviving church dates to the mid-12th century, with the chancel extended c. 1200. It was a traditional assembly site for pilgrims, who followed the Saint's Road () northeast to Mount Brandon. Some of the rituals carried out by locals, like performing nine clockwise circuits of the site on Easter Sunday, or the boring of holes in standing stones, suggest remnants of Celtic religion; Kilmalkedar may well have been a religious site long before Christianity arrived. == Buildings ==

The church resembles Cormac's Chapel on the Rock of Cashel (built 1127–1134). Its nave is with antae and steep gables. The chancel is externally. The doorway is a notable Hiberno-Romanesque piece. A hole in the east wall of the chancel is called "the eye of the needle"; if one can fit through it, one is certain to go to heaven. One of the bullauns is associated with the mythical cow Glas Gaibhnenn. The alphabet stone is carved with "DNI" (domini) and the Latin alphabet in uncial script, carved c. AD 550–600. The Ogham stone (CIIC 187) reads ẠṆM MẠỊLE-INBIR/ MACI BROCANN ("Name of Máel-Inbher son of Broccán") and dates to c. AD 600. Kilmalkedar Cross, Ogham and Church.jpg|Ogham stone, church, stone cross Kilmalkedar church, Co. Kerry, Ireland.jpg|Hiberno-Romanesque doorway Kilmalkeader Church chancel doorway interior.JPG|Doorway Kilmalkeader Church stone inscribed with alphabet.JPG|Alphabet stone Kilmalkeader Church blind arcade interior.JPG|blind arcade in the church Kilmalkeader Church west elevation.JPG|Church, west elevation Sun dial stone, Kilmalkedar.jpg|Sundial stone Kilmalkeader Church stone cross.JPG|Stone cross Kilmalkeader Church chancel elevation exterior.JPG|Chancel exterior == References ==