Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

In elevated rocky pasture, on a S-facing slope with higher ground to the N and W and clear views to the S. Within an extensive multiperiod field system (CL005-160001-). Not shown on the 1839 OS 6-inch maps; indicated as a partial enclosure on the 1916 ed. OS 6-inch map. Marked on Tim Robinson’s Burren map (1977). Listed as ‘Enclosure (possible)’ in the RMP (1996). A rectangular cashel (int. 33m N-S; 28m E-W) defined by partially surviving unbattered drystone walls (Wth 2-4m) composed of rough flat slabs, reduced to a collapsed bank  to the E (Wth 4m; int. H 0.5m) and SW (Wth 3-4m; int. H 0.5m; ext. H 1m). The wall originally featured inner and outer facing. The inner facing has totally collapsed but the outer wall-face survives in part on the N wall (H 1.1-1.7m), S wall (H 0.6m), and W wall (H 1.2m). A possible entrance is present in the N wall, legible as a rubble-filled break in the masonry (Wth 1.3m). A second break near the W end of the N wall (Wth 3m) may be more recent. The interior is level. A hollow to the N of the centre (6m N-S; 3.7m E-W; D 0.8m) may be the remains of a souterrain. There are two small pens in the NW corner. The E and S walls of the cashel form part of the townland boundary between Poulbaun and Cragballyconoal and a drystone field wall runs over the walls of the monument on these sides. A cashel (CL005-160030-) is located c. 40m E of the site. 

 

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Eve Campbell

 

Date of upload: 30 September 2025

References

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.