Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Immediately to S of the village of Cill Mhuirbhigh, Inis Mór. First noted by Petrie in 1821 (1972, 250-1) who described it as 'of an irregular figure, being partly circular, and partly angular...The ground which [it] ...originally enclosed must have been above 3 acres [1.2ha], but it is impossible now to define it accurately'. From his statement that 'About half of the wall has been destroyed to erect houses in the present village and neighbourhood', it is clear that he assumed at least part of the early ecclesiastical enclosure (GA110-073002-) around Teampall na Naomh (GA110-073001-) to have belonged to it. All that survives today is a massive but irregular length of drystone wall (L c. 20m) to W of Kilmurvy House which is built on the crest of a limestone scarp (H 2.5-3.8m). A curving boundary, and a continuation of the scarp to S and SSE of this, may indicate a continuation of its line. If so, this would suggest an original diameter in the region of 250-300m as well as suggesting that the interior was, at least in part, lower than the exterior. (O'Flanagan 1927a, Vol. 3, 141; Westropp 1895, 260)

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I - West Galway'. Compiled by Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993).

Date of upload: 05 August 2010

References

Petrie, G. 1972 An essay on military architecture in Ireland previous to the English invasion. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 72C, 219-69.

Westropp, T.J. 1895 Proceedings: Aran Islands. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 25, 250-74.

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1927 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Galway collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839. Typescript in 3 vols. Bray.