Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Altar
Kilcolgan, County Galway, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Kilcolgan
- County
- Galway
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Toberursaun Altar
- Latest-edition OS map
- Toberursaun Altar
- Coordinates
- 53.21107, -8.87739
- SMR number
- GA103-127----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1753 "Mappa geographica Regni Hiberniae" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
On low-lying ground on the S bank of the estuary of the Kilcolgan River. This poorly preserved and overgrown altar consists of a cairn of loose stones (L 5m; Wth 3m) upon which stands an 18th-century inscribed rectangular slab (GA103-127001-). According to McCaffrey (1952, 196, no. 23), the altar was designed ‘to protect a well' at which 'Offerings are left’, but no visible surface trace of the latter survives. (Bradley and Dunne 1992, 134)
Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG
Date of upload: 20 February 2020
References
McCaffrey, P. 1952 A contribution to the archaeology of the barony of Dunkellin, Co. Galway. Unpublished MA thesis, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Bradley, J. and Dunne, N. 1992b Urban archaeological survey - county Galway. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.
Nearby in the register
- Cross-inscribed stoneunder 1 mi
- Mill - unclassifiedunder 1 mi
- Souterrainunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - rathunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.