Altar

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in the north-eastern quadrant of an enclosure (MA085-012001-). It stands 1.5m S of a stone-built cell (MA085-012004-). Though the third edition of the Ordnance Survey map labels ‘Altars’, Westropp (1911a, 17, 27) noted only one such feature, describing it as ‘a shapeless heap of uninscribed slabs’. What survives today is a loose pile of stone (H 0.6m max.), roughly oval in plan (2.1m × 1.9m max.), its long axis lying NNW–SSE. From the presence of a number of flat slabs on its surface, it would appear that it was once flat-topped. On it, Westropp (1911a, 27) noted ‘large rounded pebbles from the beach, and a couple of ‘anchor stones’. He describes the latter as ‘large blocks, with a groove round them for a rope, doubtless votive from some fishing-boat saved from destruction.’ Though none of the pebbles are now visible, one of the so- called ‘anchor-stones’ is still present and compares well with one of two such stones illustrated by Westropp (1911a, pl. V). It is a geological oddity: the product of the differential weathering of bands of sandstone. See also Browne (1900, 68) and Cullen and Gill (1992d, 7–9).

The above description is derived from: New Survey of Clare Island. Volume 5: Archaeology. Edited by Paul Gosling, Conleth Manning and John Waddell. (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. 2007). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 4 December 2018

References

Gosling, P., Manning, C. and Waddell, J. (eds.) 2007 New Survey of Clare Island, Volume 5: Archaeology. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy.

Browne, C.R. 1900 The ethnography of Clare Island and Inishturk, Co. Mayo. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 21, (1898-1900) 40-72.

Cullen, C. and Gill, P. 1992 Holy wells and Christian settlement on Clare Island, Co. Mayo. Clare Island Series 4. Clare Island. Centre for Island Studies.

Westropp, T.J. 1911 Clare Island survey: history and archaeology. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31, Section 1, Part 2, 1-78.