Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

On a slight rise in semi-karst land with some tree and bush cover, damp marshy land immediately to the W and NW, and wide views in most directions. Indicated and labelled ‘Castle in ruins’ on the 1842 and 1920 eds. of the OS 6-inch map. Ua Cróinín and Breen (1996, 7) described this irregular diamond-shaped bawn (c. 84m NNW-SSE; max. 60m ENE-WSW) as defined by a mortared stone wall (Wth 1m; H c. 2m). Remains of a high parapet (Wth 0.3m) containing three narrow shot-holes survived on the W wall. Square platforms (L c. 3m; Wth 3m) for corner turrets were traceable in the W and SE corners of the wall. There were gateways with wide piers on the NE and SE sides, a narrow gap at the W and another at the N. Crude cantileveral steps were built in the inner wall-face at the SW. These steps were also partly incorporated in the NW wall of a medieval house (CL010-027003-) abutting the inner face of the bawn wall, leading Ua Cróinín and Breen (ibid., 8) to conclude that the house was contemporary with the bawn. Other cantilever steps were visible in the inner face of the bawn wall just W of the NE gateway. Other than the aforementioned medieval house (CL010-027003-), the bawn also contained the very poorly preserved remains of a tower house (CL010-027002-) in the NW centre, and another medieval house (CL010-027004-) at the N. Ua Cróinín and Breen (ibid.) observed ‘small earthworks and mounds of rubble’ in the E part of the bawn, which they suggested could have been lesser buildings and dividing walls. They also noted a crude circular structure (diam. c. 2m) of undressed field stones, which they thought was possibly a well. Finally, Ua Cróinín and Breen (ibid.) also traced vestiges of a wide wall running NNW-SSE through the centre of the bawn; they proposed that this may have been its original E wall. The OS Letters of 1839 recorded a local tradition that this castle ‘was not a regular castle but rather a large house or garrison’ (Comber 1997, 37). Ua Cróinín and Breen (1996, 8) also suggested that the expanded large defensive bawn, with its gateways, shot-holes and corner turret ‘could conceivably be’ that of a garrison castle dating to the Cromwellian period (1653-1660). An inspection of the bawn in 1999 found it unaltered in the interim.

The following image has been uploaded:
CL010-027001-_01.jpg Aerial view of bawn (Archaeological Survey photo)

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott

Date of upload: 5 April 2023

References

Ua Cróinín, R. and Breen, M. 1996 Some tower houses with bawns in the Burren. The Other Clare 20, 5-13.

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