Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

On a gentle rise in low-lying overgrown karst and uncleared marshy pasture. Overlooked by higher ground to the S with dense overgrown scrub and brambles to the E. A low, flat fertile area, potentially a dried up lake-bed to the S is partly defined by a scarp (H 2m). Hachured on the 1840 and 1916 eds. of the OS 6-inch map. Described by Westropp (1915, 264) as ‘greatly overturned’ with the remains of the outer facing to the S and W and a ‘featureless’ interior.
A subcircular area (diam. 31m SW-NE) defined by a poorly preserved and almost totally collapsed and grassed-over stone wall (Wth. 7m; max H. 4m) of rectangular limestone blocks with a rubble core. One course of an outer face is intermittently visible. There are several gaps but no definite entrances.
The undulating interior is slightly lower than the field level and contains coarse pasture and limestone outcrops. Upright limestones and collapsed grassed-over walls (Wth 1m; H 0.25m) form two subrectangular enclosures (CL016-018001- and CL016-018002-) in the interior. A mostly removed stone field wall at the N, outside of the ringfort-cashel gives the false impression of an outer wall and a rectangular enclosure to the E (13m E-W; 10m N-S) is a modern paddock. Another cashel (CL016-019001-) is located c. 88m to the ESE.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Lynda McCormack

Date of upload: 14 March 2022

References

Westropp, T.J. 1915 Prehistoric remains (forts and dolmens) in Burren and its south western border, Co. Clare. Part 12: North Western Part. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5, 45-62, 249-74.