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Kilmalkedar is a mid 12th century romanesque church situated near the tip of the Dingle peninsula overlooking Smerwick harbour. The church is similar to Cormac's chapel at Cashel built of dressed sandstone blocks. the church though has some native Irish features such as stone antae projecting at the end of the church. It is a nave and chancel church. The west doorway is a classic round arched romanesque doorway. The chancel is separted from the nave with a decorated entrance to the church and a surviving chancel arch. In the grounds of the graveyard surrounding the church at Kilmalkedar there are several other monuments, including a sundial and alphabet stone. The Saint's Road a medieval pilgrimage route to Mount Brandon passes by the church. Peter Harbison suggests that the presence of a Romanesque church is due to the pilgrimage route to Mount Brandon which passes the church as on the route of the camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, use of Romanesque architecture was popular. |
Bibliography
- Cuppage et al, 1986. The Archaeological Survey of the Dingle Peninsula.
- Harbison, P. 1994 Early Irish Pilgrim Archaeology in the Dingle Peninsula. World Archaeology, Vol. 26, No. 1, Archaeology of Pilgrimage , pp. 90-10
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