Field system

The National Monuments Service's description

At the extreme S end of Inis Mór in the sand-dunes to the NE, E and S of An Trá Mhór. An extensive series of stone walls in the dunes, forming an irregular pattern of small fields, was investigated by Kilbride (1868, 103, 113-14). He recorded that the walls, which were built of limestone, stood directly on bedrock, and were found in places to extend out below the HWM into An Trá Mhó itself. On inspection in November 1984 portions of walls (Wth c. 2m, H > 0.3m) were still visible protruding from the sand along SE shore of this tidal inlet. During the course of fieldwork on the AranLIFE Farming Project (2014-2018) (see www.aranlife.ie) it was noted that the field walls are aligned on a roughly N-S axis with cross-walls running E-W. More traces of the walls were visible in a series of blowouts and gullies in the exposed sand to the S of An Trá Mhór and within the inlet itself at low tide. An enclosure (GA119-024001-) and clochan (GA119-024002-) are visible in the NE tip of the promontory, in an area known as Barr na Coise. (Westropp 1895, 264-5)

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). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

The following images have been uploaded:
GA119-021----_01.jpg General view of wall to S of an Trá Mhór
GA119-021----_02.jpg Detail of walling

Updated by: Olive Alcock

Date of revised upload: 11 December 2018

References

Kilbride, W. 1868 Notes of some antiquities on Aranmore, in the Bay of Galway. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 10, 102-18.

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