Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

On a narrow (c. 60m) isthmus of land connecting the SW end of Illaunmuckinish Island with the mainland, dividing Muckinish Bay to the E from the estuary running into Ballyvaughan Bay to the W and overlooked by a moderately steep-sided rise of bare rock and improved pasture to the S. The bawn is not indicated on the 1842 ed. of the OS 6-inch map but is shown on the 1915 ed. The bawn encloses a rectangular space (41m N–S x 39m E–W). A partially collapsed four-storey tower house (CL003-002002-) is located midway along its northern side. The bawn wall (Wth 0.65m; H 2.4–3m) supports mock crenellations and is built of undressed randomly coursed limestone. A road entering through a gap in the W wall (Wth 12.5m) and exiting through a gap in the E wall (Wth 4.3m) give access to a complex of modern holiday homes. It may be largely original but is likely to have been extensively repaired in the 18th and 19th centuries (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1996; Breen and Ua Cróinín 2008).

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin

Date of upload: 15 December 2020

References

Breen, M. and Ua Cróinín, R. 2008 Towerhouses of the North Burren coast. The Other Clare 32, 5-11.

Ua Cróinín, R. and Breen, M. 1997 The castles and tower-houses of Co. Clare, 6 vols. Unpublished report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.