Northern Ireland Sites & Monuments

Kilnasaggart1

The site lies close to the ancient route through the "Gap of the North" from Meath to Ulster. Edward Bruce is said to have slept at "Kilsagart". The only visible ancient features are a tall inscribed pillar stone & a few smaller cross-inscribed stones. The pillar stone is dated 714 or 716 & is the oldest dated inscription in Ireland. The graveyard is c.50m in diam & was partially excavated in 1966 & 1968. No structural evidence was found, & finds included Early Christian & Neolithic material.

Built Heritage maintains the Northern Ireland SMR Sites & Monuments Record for the six counties of Northern Ireland, holding information on approx. 15,000 sites. These range from Mesolithic camp sites, Bronze age landscapes preserved under bog, through the Early Christian monasteries, the castles of the Norman conquest and the defended houses of the Plantation settlers.

Each site is stored individually on the NISMR database, with a unique reference number which ties together all the information on the site. This information includes geographical details, such as grid references and which townland & parish the site is in as well as typological details - what the site is, what time period it belongs to, any known site names etc. and there is a brief description of each site, taken from historical sources and field visits. There is also a list of available references for each site.  

All the sites listed in the NISMR database can be located geographically using the Map Viewer. 


More detailed information, including details of sites, plans and photographs, is also available from the Monuments and Buildings Record held in Waterman House, Belfast.