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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Clochan

High Island, County Galway, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Clochan, High Island, County Galway, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
High Island
County
Galway
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Cloghans
Latest-edition OS map
Cloghans (Site of)
Coordinates
53.54486, -10.26115
SMR number
GA021-026012-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1841 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

This clochan or beehive hut is built within the thickness of the N side of the monastic enclosure wall (GA021-026022-) on High Island. Prior to conservation works it was largely complete but poorly preserved. Described by Scally (2014, 44-5, 131-6) as being rectangular in plan internally (2.2m E-W; 1.85m N-S) with angular corners. Externally it is roughly circular in plan (4m E-W; 3.6m N-S). The internal walls (H 1.4-2.1m; Wth of S wall 1.25m) are corbelled above 1m. Access is via a splayed doorway in the S wall. Two wall niches survive, one in the E wall, the other in the W wall. The floor of the hut was paved. Two decorated cross-slabs (GA021-02656- and GA021-02657-) were reused in the paving. The clochan is surrounded from NW to SE by an annulus (Wth c. 0.6m; H 0.9m), which provided additional structural support. At NW the annulus continues westwards and is bonded into the extended monastic wall, which suggests that both features were contemporary. Radiocarbon analysis of charcoal deposits inside the clochan indicates its earliest occupation dates to the late 12th century. Scally (ibid., 311-12) notes that this clochan is smaller than the clochan (GA021-026013-) to the E of the church (GA021-026018-) and suggests that it possibly accommodated the head monk. (Herity 1997, 52-8; White Marshall and Rourke 2000, 130-32)

Compiled by: Olive Alcock

Date of upload: 11 December 2015

This monument was taken into Ownership under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 - National Monument 52.

The following images have been uploaded:
GA021-026012-_01.jpg General view from E
GA021-026012-_02.jpg Clochan from E
GA021-026012-_03.jpg View from W

References

White Marshall, J. and Rourke, G.D. 2000 High Island: an Irish monastery in the Atlantic. Dublin. Town House and Country House.

Scally, G. 2014 High Island (Ardoileán), Co. Galway: excavation of an early medieval monastery. Archaeological Monograph Series 10. Dublin. The Stationery Office.

Herity, M. 1977 The High Island hermitage. Irish University Review, Spring, 52-68.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
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