Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Midden
Inishcottle Island, County Mayo, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Inishcottle Island
- County
- Mayo
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.85358, -9.62747
- SMR number
- MA076-046----
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
Located on the N shoreline of Inishcottle Island, a drumlin island, which lies close to the mainland in the inner NE reaches of Clew Bay.
This midden is exposed in section at the interface of the land-edge and the shoreline. The land-edge takes the form of a vertical earthen scarp (H 0.8-1m), topped with a post and wire fence, which defines the N end of a pasture field. It drops directly to the boulder-strewn, gravelly shoreline. The midden is visible at the base of the scarp. It consists of a dense concentration (D 0.3m) of oyster shells, which can be traced for c. 12m E-W. The upper levels of the shell layer are mixed with lenses of black, charcoal-rich soil. The midden is obscured, in parts, by over-hanging vegetation, collapsed sections of the scarp, and by shoreline boulders. The E end of the layer is poorly preserved, with short sections (L c. 2m) eroded out by tidal action.
Attachments:
MA076-046----_01.JPG Midden viewed from N
MA076-046----_02.JPG Charcoal-rich soil in the upper levels of midden
MA076-046----_03.JPG Location viewed from NW
Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy
Date of upload: 12 February 2018
Nearby in the register
- Earthworkunder 1 mi
- Earthworkunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - rath1 mi
- Souterrain1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.