placenamesRedhill
An Cnoc Rua
Archaeological testing and surviving gates reveal different stages in the landscape of Redhill Demesne.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Cnoc Rua · Irish · main form
- Redhill · English · main form
Place & story
Walls missing from the maps
Testing in the estate farmyard in December 2013 found substantial wall foundations in two of eight trenches. A possible cobbled floor or yard survived beside them. Archaeologist Martin McGonigle noted that early maps showed trees in this position, suggesting that the structure had disappeared by about 1830. Its relationship to the fortified house roughly forty metres away remained uncertain: the excavator proposed that it might be contemporary with, or older than, that building. The testing did not establish a definite construction date. [2]
The estate’s public face
The entrance to Red Hills provides a more visible architectural statement. The national inventory dates its gates and piers to about 1790. Carefully cut stone piers carry large pine-cone finials set in carved leafy cups, while curved rubble walls flank iron gates with pointed tops. The contrast between dressed masonry and rougher stonework was part of the composition. These features mark the estate boundary rather than identifying the date of the buried farmyard building. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Redhill. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- 2013:371 Redhills Demesne, licence13E0455 · Martin McGonigle, John Cronin & Associates, Excavations.ie
- Red Hills estate entrance, NIAH40401601 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2017-12-01. How this page was prepared.