Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

On a rocky headland on the N bank of the Shannon Estuary with extensive views over the Shannon and Carrigaholt Bay. Described (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997) as a small bawn (25m N-S; 16m E-W) on top of a low cliff (H 5m) containing a round turret at NE. The one-storey turret is of cut stone (probably 18th-19th century) with crenellations and has a cracked flagstone as a ceiling. It has four narrow loops using 15th century jambs. A larger walled area (30m N-S; 90m E-W) contained a number of buildings (shown on the OS 25-inch map) to the N and W of the tower house (attached to the tower house at N) and incorporates the earlier bawn. The walls at N (H 3-3.5m) are of roughly dressed limestone, some recently built up while at E the wall has been strengthened to withstand sea erosion. The S wall is less well preserved (H 0.8-1.4m) and is of roughly dressed stone mixed with brick. This walled area is accessed through a gateway (CL065-100002-) at SW.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 5 November 2018

References

Ua Cróinín, R. and Breen, M. 1997 The castles and tower-houses of Co. Clare, 6 vols. Unpublished report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.