placenamesKells
Ceanannas
A primary excavation report records decorated stones, cremation deposits and traces of later work beside the Lingaun River.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Ceanannas · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kells · English · main form
Place & story
Two tombs beside the Lingaun
Knockroe passage tomb occupies a south-facing slope above the Lingaun River, on the Kilkenny–Tipperary boundary. Two tombs lie within a single cairn about twenty metres across, with alignments towards the midwinter sun. More than thirty structural stones carry megalithic art. The excavator found evidence that the surrounding kerb of large boulders had been added or altered during a later restructuring. [2]
Burials recovered during conservation
Further excavation accompanied conservation work in September 2010, following earlier investigations in the 1990s. In the western tomb, cremated bone survived between upright stones and floor slabs, within compartments and around the entrance. Beads, pendants, tubular spacers and fragments of bone or antler pins accompanied the deposits. Sieving the bone after excavation revealed additional small artefacts. [2]
Activity beyond the cairn
Work west of the monument uncovered cobbling with metal fragments and broken honing stones. These finds could not establish a precise date, although the excavator suggested broadly medieval domestic or industrial activity. Comparable traces occurred at the cairn’s eastern edge. The report therefore records later use around the prehistoric monument while retaining uncertainty about the cobbled area’s date and purpose. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kells. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Knockroe, excavation2010:426, C424/E000554 · Muiris O’Sullivan / Excavations.ie
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.