Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

On slightly elevated ground in an area of improved pasture in Ballyvaughan valley. Hachured and named ‘Ooanknocknagroagh’ on the 1840 and 1916 eds. of the OS 6-inch map and is indicated and named ‘Umahin Chnoc na gCruach’ on Robinson’s (1997) map. Westropp (1901, 280) referred to it as ‘Ooanknocknagroagh’ and ‘Boenknocknagroagh’ and believed it was levelled. O’Donovan (Comber 1997, 20) gave the Irish form as Uamhainn Chnuic na gCruach and referred to it as ‘effaced’. It was listed as ‘Enclosure’ in the RMP (1996).
A roughly circular cashel (est. diam. c. 40m) defined from S to SW by an overgrown bank of stone (Wth 1.4m; H 0.7-1m). Elsewhere the enclosing element is either absent or too overgrown to access.
The cashel wall merges with a field wall at WSW and an overgrown boulder wall of stone (L 3m H 0.9m) runs inside the cashel wall at S. The name of the fort (uaimh being the Irish for cave) suggests it may contain a souterrain.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 16 February 2022

References

Westropp, T.J 1901 Prehistoric remains in north-western Clare part II. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 31, 273-91.

Comber, M. (ed.) 1997 The antiquities of County Clare: John O’Donovan and Eugene Curry: Ordnance Survey Letters 1839. Clasp Press. Ennis.

Robinson, T. 1977 (revised 1999) The Burren: a two-inch map of the uplands of north-west Clare. Map scale 1:31680. Roundstone: Folding Landscapes.