Weir - fish

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in the middle of the tidal Fergus Estuary, N of the archipelago of islands. Described by O’Sullivan et al. (2010) as follows: Boarland Rock 3 is a V-shaped structure situated 300m further south of Boarland Rock 1 and Boarland Rock 2. It is smaller than both 1 and 2 but is similar in construction. The fences form curved lines and meet to form a funnel 3.5m long. The N-E S-E line is 27m in length and the shorter N-S line is 13m in length. The weir consisted of c. 60 uprights with little or no horizontal woods visible. Boarland Rock 4, 5 and 6 are located close by. A sample of wood from the funnel of Boarland Rock 3 fishweir has produced a calibrated radiocarbon date of AD1415-1453 (465 +/- 25 BP). It is closest in date to Boarland Rock 1. During fieldwork in 2009, post holes were noted at the lower part of the funnel end, indicating that part of the structure had been dismantled at some point. These post holes fill with sediment once the post is removed and differential erosion produces a posthole slightly raised from the surrounding muds.’ (O’Sullivan et al. 2010, Appendix 1, 35-6, Boarland Rock 3)

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 8 October 2019

References

O'Sullivan, A., Dillon, M., Sands, R., McDermott, C., Shaw, R., Devlin, G. 2010 The Fergus Estuary and Islands: discovering a maritime historic landscape in Co. Clare. Report to the Heritage Council. University College Dublin, School of Archaeology in association with the Discovery Programme.