Irish Field

Monuments
 Contents
2 Introduction
3 Ringforts
4 Souterrains
5 Crannogs
6 Hillforts and Promontory forts
8 Early ecclesiastical enclosures
10 Linear earthworks and roadways
11 Fulachta Fiadh and
Horizontal mills
13 Megalithic tombs
15 Mounds, Cairns and Barrows
17 Stone circles, Alignments,
Standing stones and Rock art
a 18 Medieval earthworks
Aerial view of a ringfort at
Lisnabin, Co. Westmeath. On the
right in the next field a ringbarrow, 20 Medieval buildings
crowned with a bush, can be
seen beside a pond, (photo - L 21 Miscellaneous monuments
Swan). The cover illustration is
based on this photograph. 22 Sites not showing on the surface
DUBLIN
PUBLISHED BY THE Text by C. Manning. 23 Archaeological excavation
STATIONERY OFFICE
Design and cover illustration by 24 Relevant authorities
To be purchased through
any Bookseller, or directly
Aislinn Adams. Other illustrations Further reading
from the by P. Coffey.
GOVERNMENT ISBN 0 7076 0035 9
PUBLICATIONS OFFICE, PDF 2004
SUN ALLIANCE HOUSE,
MOLESWORTH STREET,
DUBLIN 2.
 every county but this will take many
years. In the meantime archaeological
inventories have been published for a
number of counties as well as the
detailed survey for Co. Louth. The
omission of a site from the maps or from
any of these surveys does not mean that

Introduction it is not important as many sites have yet

to be discovered.

By any standard the Irish countryside This booklet has been written for the
is very rich in physical remains of the layman, particularly in the hope that it
past in the form of archaeological will assist farmers and others involved in
sites and monuments. Thisremarkable developments,
heritage
that and
causeresource
ground has,
however, come under increasing disturbance, to identify ancient
threat in the past couple of decades monuments and thereby secure their
and as a result many fine monuments, preservation. It is also aimed at young
containing much valuable information people to make them aware of the rich
about the past, have been destroyed heritage of monuments in Ireland and of
or badly damaged. the need to safeguard it for future
generations. Emphasis is placed on the
monument types most frequently
An archaeological survey of the country encountered or most likely to go
is in progress and Sites and Monuments unrecognised rather than on the more
Records have been produced on a county impressive and well-known monuments
basis. These consist of lists of known many of which are already protected.
archaeological sites accompanied by For information on these better known
copies of the 6" maps with the sites sites and for general information on the
marked on them. The ultimate aim is to archaeology of Ireland the reader is
produce a detailed published survey on referred to the books listed on page 24.

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A section of an Ordnance Survey
6 inch map showing ringforts, a

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motte. (Co. Tipperary; sheet 27.

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 bank and ditch but such examples are
rarer than the simple type. In some areas,
especially in the west of Ireland, a
massive stone wall enclosed the site in
place of a bank and ditch. This type of
ringfort is called a caher, cashel or stone
fort and well preserved examples may
Ringforts have terraces and steps in the inner face
of the wall. Most of these stone forts have
These are undoubtedly the commonest been heavily robbed of stone to build
monuments on the landscape and the roads or field fences and often only
ones most often under threat. They are traces of the wall survive.
found in every county and are known by
various names (fort, rath, dun, lios etc.). Both types of ringfort were erected as
Basically the ringfort is a space protected enclosures around farmsteads
surrounded by an earthen bank formed of mainly during the Early Christian period
material thrown up from a fosse or ditch (c. 500 - 1100 AD). The dwelling houses
immediately outside the bank. Generally and other buildings were generally dry-
they vary from 25-50 metres in diameter, stone or timber built and the remains of
are usually circular but can also be oval or stone structures are sometimes visible. It

m
A cashel or stone fort at
Leacanabuaile, Co. Kerry, after
excavation and conservation. The
conserved lower portions of dry-
stone buildings can be seen
within the fort. (photo -
C. Brogan).
 Diagram of a souterrain or
underground passage, a,
Entrance. b, Passage. c,
Corbelled Chamber. These are
sometimes found during
ploughing, quarrying or house
building.

Souterrains
A feature often found in ringforts is an
underground passage or souterrain
(popularly known as a cave or tunnel).
Tree covered cranng in
They are usually built of stone but can Kilcorran Lough, Co. Monaghan.
also be tunnelled into rock or compact (photo - C. Brogan).
clay or gravel. Souterrains are sometimes
found apparently independent of any
enclosure and are also found in Early \E
A ringfort in hilly terrain with
Christian ecclesiastical enclosures. They remains of an internal rectangular
were used as places of refuge and hut at Ballymakellett, Co. Louth.
possibly also for storage and can be (photo - C. Brogan).

encountered unexpectedly during

ploughing, bulldozing or quarrying.
These structures can be unsafe, Interior view of a souterrain
looking from the chamber out
especially if recently uncovered and along the passage at Benagh, Co.
should be treated with extreme caution. Louth. (photo - C. Brogan).

is only during archaeological excavation

that the traces of wooden structures can
be found. Sometimes, especially in
permanent pasture land or rocky terrain,
ancient field systems, associated with
ringforts, survive.
Crannogs
These are small circular man-made
islands in lakes or marshland serving
the same function as ringforts and used
during much the same period. Crannogs
were made up of layers of material such
as lake-mud, brushwood and stones with
a palisade of closely-set wooden stakes
around the perimeter to consolidate the
structure and act as a defensive barrier.
The stumps of these stakes are often
visible, preserved by the water logged
conditions, which also preserve other
wooden and leather objects making
these sites particularly interesting to
archaeologists. Drainage schemes often
leave cranngs high and dry on the
foreshore in which situation they can be
difficult to recognise.
 or a stone wall enclosing the top of a hill. In ffl
some cases there are a number of lines of The promontory fort called Dun
Dchathair on high cliffs on
defence widely separated from each Inishmore, Aran Islands, Co.
other. These must have been tribal rather Galway. A massive dry-stone wall
than family units and were used mainly with an entrance at one end

Hillforts &
defends the interior where the
during the Iron Age (c. 300 BC - 500 AD). remains of a few structures
survive close to the wall. (photo -

Promontory forts
C. Brogan).
Many suitable cliff headlands around the
coast and some inland were defended by
the erection of earthen ramparts or a
Some early forts were built making massive stone walls cutting off the neck of An aerial view of the massive
maximum use of naturally defended the promontory. These promontory forts. hillfort at Mooghaun, Co. Clare.
Three large concentric walls
positions such as low hills and which vary greatly in size, usually have enclose this hilltop and there are
promontories. Hillforts are large the element dun in their names and are also two smaller enclosures of
enclosures delimited by a bank and ditch generally assigned to the Iron Age. ringfort size which appear to be
later in date. (photo - L. Swan).
 surrounded by large enclosures, often
circular or oval in plan, and usually far
more extensive than the surviving
Early graveyards. In some instances the entire
enclosing bank, ditch or stone wall
ecclesiastical survives but more often the line of the
enclosure is only indicated by curving field
enclosures boundaries or cropmarks or low
earthworks visible only from the air. As
well as an early church and burial ground
A large proportion of the old church sites these enclosures contained the dwellings
and graveyards around the country are on and workshops of a community
the sites of Early Christian ecclesiastical sometimes approaching the size of a
foundations which were originally town. As the buildings were generally of

Early ecclesiastical enclosure at

~-,0K Moyne, near Shrule, Co. Mayo.
An ancient wall here encloses an
area much larger than the present
graveyard Note the earthworks
forming further divisions within the
enclosure. (Photo - L Swan).
 wood nothing survives in the enclosures unbaptised children during the last few
above the ground while in the graveyards centuries and are known by various
there is often a ruined medieval parish names (killeen, ceallunach etc.).
church. These enclosures vary in Bullauns (boulders with round basin-
The early monastic site of Lusk,
diameter from c. 30m to as large as shaped hollows in them) are often found
Co. Dublin. Some of the roads of c. 400m. on early church sites while Holy Wells
the present-day village follow the may be situated close to them.
curve of the early enclosure.
Centrally placed in the graveyard In some cases there is no surviving Professional archaeological advice
is a 19th-century church attached graveyard or merely an old graveyard should be sought before considering any
to a medieval tower which
incorporates an early round
without any inscribed headstones. Such works or development within 100 metres
tower. (photo - L. Swan). sites were often used for the burial of of an old graveyard.
 parts of which survive in counties
Monaghan, Cavan and Leitrim. Other
linear earthworks are the Worm Ditch,
Linear the Dane's Cast and the Claidhe Dubh.

earthworks & Ancient roadways can also be found

running for long distances but, because
roadways they have for the most part been
obliterated by modern roads or
cultivation, they are often now only in
Large banks with an accompanying ditch evidence across mountain terrain or
or ditches running for great distances across bogs where they are known as
across the countryside probably acted as toghers. Many toghers were built of timber
territorial boundaries and impediments to planks laid lengthways on crossbeams
the driving off of cattle. Such linear and kept in place by pegs driven into the
earthworks are generally only well bog. Well preserved examples have been
preserved for short stretches and the best found during turfcutting.
known example is the Black Pig's Dyke,

Togher or timber roadway across

a bog at Corlea, Co. Longford as
uncovered by archaeological
excavation. This togher was built
in 148 B.C. during the Iron Age.
(photo - B. Raftery).

10
 mainly of small pieces of blackened stone
and situated close to a water source or in
marshy or formerly marshy ground. A
rectangular pit, lined with wooden planks
or stone slabs to form a trough, is
Fulachta Fiadh & invariably found during archaeological
excavation under the open part of the
horseshoe-shaped mound. Water was
Horizontal mills heated in the trough by rolling hot stones
into it from a fire close by. It has been
Ancient cooking places called Fulachta proved by experiment that water can be
Fiadh are one of the least well-known boiled in this way and meat cooked in it.
Fulacht Fiadh at Rathlogan, Co.
Kilkenny. It has the normal monument types, often not recognised as The hot stones often shattered on contact
horseshoe-shaped mound and its ancient features and seldom marked on with the water and the mound was formed
location in marshy ground close
to a stream is typical. the maps. They usually survive as small as a result of shovelling the broken stones
(photo - T. Condit). horseshoe-shaped mounds made up out of the trough so that it could be used

11
 again. The timber trough or part of it Another monument type found in similar
often survives in the damp conditions situations is the horizontal mill. These
usually prevailing on these sites. are of rare occurrence and portions of
wooden structures, displaying
The practice of using these sites persisted sophisticated carpentry techniques, have
from at least the Bronze Age down to the been revealed during excavation. These
historic period and the method of using mill sites have been dated to the Early
them is described in early texts. They Christian period but are generally not
can occur in groups and are frequently recognisable on the surface.
encountered during land reclamation
and field drainage.

Diagram of a Fulacht Fiadh.

a, Crescent - shaped mound
b, Section through wooden trough
and mound
c, View of trough.

Aerial view of Deer Park or

Magheraghanrush Court-tomb,
Co. Sligo. This fine example has
a central elongated court with
burial chambers opening off each
end. Most of the cairn has been
robbed over the centuries leaving
only the large structural stones.
(photo - C. Brogan).

12
Megalithic tombs
As the word 'megalithic' signifies, these
structures were built of large stones.
Basically they consist of a burial chamber
or chambers, built of large uprights and
roofed over in stone, originally contained
within a cairn (heap of stones) or a clay
mound but accessible through an
entrance. In most cases the cairns have
been largely robbed of stone leaving
only the ruined chamber popularly
referred to as a dolmen, giant's grave,
druid's altar or Diarmuid and Grinne's
Bed. Many are given these or similar
names on the 6 inch O.S. map while
others are not marked at all. Megalithic
tombs can be divided into four main
classes: Court-tombs, Portal-tombs,
Passage-tombs and Wedge-tombs.

Court-tombs are found mainly in the

northern half of the country and are so
called because they generally have a
curved forecourt at the entrance to the
tomb at one end of a long straight-sided
cairn. As with all megalithic tombs the
cairn may be partially or totally robbed
and often only the upright stones of the
chamber survive.

Portal-tombs are found mainly in the

northern part of the country and in South
Leinster and Waterford. Some of the well
preserved examples are among the most
impressive megalithic tombs in the
country. Their name is derived from the

13
 two large upright stones forming the
entrance or portal of the chamber. The
often massive capstone is supported on
these and on the lower back and side
stones. It is seldom that any remains of a
cairn survive.

Passage-tombs are found mainly in

concentrations, known as cemeteries,
of which that in the bend of the Boyne
around Newgrange is the most famous. In
plan they consist essentially of a round
mound or cairn with a passage leading
from the edge to a chamber within. Many
of them are sited on hilltops and in some
cases the structural stones of the tomb
are decorated. These along with the
Portal and Court-tombs belong to the
Neolithic or New Stone Age period
(c. 4000 - 2000 BC).

The fourth tomb type, the Wedge-tomb,

has been assigned to the succeeding
Early Bronze Age (after 2000 BC). This
type is more widespread than the others
with many occurring in Munster where
other tomb types are very rare. These
tombs originally consisted of a
rectangular chamber often narrowing and
declining in height towards the back
(hence the name) and roofed with slabs.
The cairn can be round, oval or D-shaped.

14
 sometimes possible to classify robbed or
Portal-tomb at Kilclooney More, denuded examples if part of the structure
Co. Donegal. This photograph is exposed.
shows the matched pair of tall
portal stones at the entrance and
the large and impressive The practice of burying in cists, box-like

Mounds, Cairns &

capstone. (photo - C. Brogan).
structures made of stone slabs, is first
found in the Neolithic period. These large
cists containing one or two burials
Wedge-tomb at Caheraphuca,
Co. Clare. As their name implies
these tombs are often wedge
Barrows accompanied by decorated Neolithic
pottery are found covered by round
shaped both in plan and section.
(photo C. Brogan). Circular mounds or cairns of rounded mounds and to date occur only in the
profile and varying greatly in size are southern part of the country.
Passage-tomb cairns on a
known in most parts of the country. These
mountain at Carrowkeel, Co. are generally burial mounds but may Early Bronze Age cists are found also
Sligo. These are part of a cover any one of a number of different under round mounds but are mostly
cemetery or group of passage-
tombs at Carrowkeel. (photo - C. types of burial (Passage-tombs, or other smaller than the Neolithic ones and a
Brogan). Neolithic or Early Bronze Age burials). It is number of them are usually found in the

15
one mound. The burials in them can be
either cremated or unburnt and decorated
pottery, either food vessels or urns, is
generally found with them. Similar burials
are also found without the protection of a
cist but accompanied by the pottery. Early
Bronze Age burials can also occur
individually or in flat cemeteries where
there is no mound. Such burials are often
found unexpectedly during sand and
gravel quarrying.

Often difficult to see on the ground are

small mounds with encircling ditch and Isolated cist graves are generally
bank known as ringbarrows. These can found by accident when a plough
vary in size from about 4 metres across to or bulldozer removes the
capstone. They contain burials
as much as 20 metres. Usually the bank is which are usually cremated, and
outside the ditch and sometimes there is often a pottery vessel. Diagram of
a cist grave: a. with capstone; b.
little or no mound within. They can occur without capstone.
in clusters and are often not marked on
the 6 inch map. Excavation has shown a
that they are burial monuments usually A ringbarrow at Rathnarrow, Co.
Westmeath with archaeological
containing cremations of Bronze or Iron excavation in progress around it.
Age date. (photo - C. Brogan).

16
 known especially in areas where stone
Stone circles, circles occur. Both types date from the
Bronze Age.
Alignments, Single standing stones known by various
Standing stones names (galln, dalln, lign, long stone
etc.) are of more widespread occurrence

& Rock art but are not necessarily all of one period or
one purpose. Some have been shown to
mark prehistoric burials while others may
The stone circles which are found in have served some other commemorative
certain parts of the country such as the or ritual function. They vary in height
West Cork/South Kerry area were considerably, up to a maximum of about 5
apparently used for ritual purposes. Some metres. Some smaller upright stones can
Ogham inscribed standing stone circles have a dozen or more upright have crosses inscribed on them from
on Dunmore Head, at the stones while the smallest ones have only Early Christian times or Ogham
westernmost tip of the Dingle
Peninsula, Co. Kerry. (photo - F. five stones and measure 2 to 4 metres inscriptions. The latter is an ancient
Moore). across. alphabet consisting of dots and strokes
cut along the edge or edges of a stone.
Alignments or straight lines of three or The bulk of these ogham stones are found
Stone circle at Bohonagh, Co.
Cork. (photo - C. Brogan). more closely set standing stones are in Counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford.

17
They are often found lying flat or reused
as lintels in souterrains or other later
structures.

Rock outcrops and natural boulders were

sometimes inscribed with cup and circles,
concentric circles and other designs Medieval
during the Bronze Age.
earthworks
The most impressive of these is the motte,
popularly called a moat, which can
survive as a very large steep-sided
mound of earth with a flat top. These were
constructed during the early phases of the
Anglo-Norman settlement in the 12th and
13th centuries. Originally there would
have been a wooden tower and palisade
on top and many examples have an
attached enclosure called a bailey which
would have contained houses and other
buildings. During an attack the motte itself
Rock art on outcropping rock at
would have served as the main strong Kealduff Upper, Co. Kerry.
point and last resort. (photo - C. Manning).

In certain areas Anglo-Norman settlers

constructed square or rectangular a
Motte at Clonard, Co. Meath.
enclosures called moated sites. Their (photo - C. Brogan).

18
 main defensive feature was a wide (often
waterfilled) fosse with an internal bank
and sometimes a slight external bank. As
with ringforts, which they resemble in
scale, these enclosures protected a
house and outbuildings usually built of
wood.

The Anglo-Normans also founded towns

and villages in the areas they settled and
Moated site at Grove, Co. while some of these are still important
Kilkenny. The fosse or moat still
fills with water during wet centres others have dwindled in size or
weather. This site is not marked become deserted. These deserted
on any edition of the Ordnance
Survey map. (photo - T. Barry).
settlements can cover large areas of
ground and where grazing only has taken
place they can survive as complex
systems of small banks which can
sometimes be rationalised as the remains
The deserted medieval town of
Newtown Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny
of houses, outbuildings and property
as shown on the Ordnance boundaries arranged around a street or
Survey 6 inch map (1839). At that streets. Often there is an old church and
time the streets, house sites and
plots were still visible on the
graveyard nearby and a castle, motte or
ground. tower house.

/ 7
.-t /a. A -**

v- \
Medieval
buildings
Medieval castles come in a great variety
of shapes and sizes and are usually
marked on the 6 inch O.S. maps. Also
marked as castles on the maps are the
tall structures of the later Medieval
period (15th-16th centuries) which are
more correctly referred to as tower
houses. Many of these are remarkably
well preserved.

Medieval churches and monasteries are

often surrounded by graveyards under
the care of local authorities but some are
unprotected in open fields. Again these
are normally marked on the maps or are
known of locally.

Some castles and churches have been

largely removed over the years and no
visible trace or just a few humps in the
ground may survive. Such sites of
churches or castles (frequently marked as
such on the maps) are of archaeological
importance and can yield much
information if properly excavated.
Earthworks of a settlement or enclosure
are often found surrounding or close to
castles, tower houses and churches and
even if these are not in evidence the
area surrounding any of these structures
should not be disturbed. Professional
archaeological advice should be sought
in defining this area.

20
 period, Martello towers, old houses and
Aerial view of a tower house at mansions of architectural interest and
Rockstown, Co. Limerick. Traces landlord's follies. Of a less imposing
of a pear-shaped enclosure or
bawn can be seen enclosing the nature are isolated house and hut sites
top of the rocky knoll on which the including booley huts in mountain areas
tower house was built. (photo - C.
Brogan).
Miscellaneous and the stone-corbelled huts common in
Kerry called clochns. There are also

monuments many interesting structures such as old

bridges, sweat houses, lime and corn-
drying kilns, ice houses, pigeon houses
There are many other ancient monuments and old light houses. A specialist study
in our countryside which are worth in itself is industrial archaeology which is
preserving. Among these are fortified concerned with industrial monuments
houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as windmills and watermills of all
star-shaped artillery forts of the same sorts, old factories, canals, mines, etc.

Aerial view of Creevelea

Franciscan Friary near
Dromahair, Co. Leitrim. The long
church has a central tower while
the domestic buildings were built
around an open square cloister
garth. (photo - C. Brogan).

si
A recently restored 19th-century
mill with its mill wheel on the
banks of the Funcheon at
Glanworth, Co. Cork. On the cliff
behind is Glanworth Castle dating
from the 13th to 17th centuries.
(photo - C. Brogan).

21
 large walls or banks. Such habitation sites
are usually found only by accident during
the excavation of some other monument
or as a result of the finding of small
artifacts during ploughing or other land
Sites not showing disturbance. Any works that involve
considerable disturbance of the ground
on the surface surface such as drainage and land
improvement works, quarrying, road and
building construction and pipe laying can
Very few prehistoric habitation sites have uncover hitherto unknown sites of all
been found in comparison with the types including monuments that had been
number of known burial and ritual totally levelled prior to the first edition of
monuments. This is due to the fact that the the Ordnance Survey maps. All such finds
houses were generally flimsy structures should be reported without delay to the
made of wood or other perishable Chief Archaeologist (address below).
materials and not normally defended by

The site of a circular post-and-

wattle house during excavation at
Lackenavorna, Co. Tipperary.
This photograph illustrates how
archaeological features can
survive in certain circumstances
very close to the surface. (photo -
C. Manning).

22
 Another area of work where interesting
discoveries can be made is in the cutting
of turf both in the raised bogs common in
the Midlands and the blanket bogs
covering much upland terrain especially

A complex series of cropmarks

showing in a field of corn in the
in the West. Toghers (wooden trackways
across bogs) are the main monument Archaeological
townland of Bracklin, Co.
Westmeath. Cropmarks result
from buried features (such as
type found in raised bogs but blanket
bog can cover many types of
monuments including megalithic tombs,
excavation
ditches or wall foundations)
causing differences in crop
cairns, stone circles, house sites and Modern archaeological excavation is a
growth which may be visible from field walls. A massive Neolithic field highly skilled activity requiring much
the air. Archaeological sites with system associated with a court-tomb expertise in the recovery of the evidence
no surface features can be
detected in this way. (photo - L
and habitation sites was discovered in and in its interpretation and publication.
Swan). North Mayo during turf cutting. Contrary to popular opinion archaeologists
do not excavate in order to find gold or
other valuable objects. Rather, their
intention is to get the maximum
information about the past from the
ground. Objects found in an excavation
are important principally because of their
recorded association with other objects,
structures, layers or features. For this
reason it is important that unqualified
persons should not undertake
archaeological excavation and if by
accident a discovery is made everything
should be left as it is without any further
uncovering of the object or feature or any
other disturbance of the immediate area
until an official inspection has been
made.

The National Monuments Acts, makes it

unlawful to excavate for archaeological
purposes without a licence from the
Department of the Environment, Heritage &
Local Government. Their consent is also
required to use a metal detector for the
purpose of searching for archaeological
objects. Such consents are normally issued
to qualified and experience archaeologists

23
Relevant
authorities Further reading
The National Monuments Section, S.P. Rordin Antiquities of the Irish
Department of the Environment, Countryside (5th edition, revised by
Heritage & Local Government, R. de Valera). Methuen 1979.
Dun Scine,
Harcourt Lane, P. Harbison Guide to the National
Dublin 2. Monuments of Ireland.
Telephone (01) 4117112 Gill and Macmillan 1975.

Reports of monuments in clanger or new Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland:

discoveries should be directed to the An Introduction and Guide.
same address.
H.M.S.O. Belfast 1983.
Other than in licensed excavation the
E. Evans Prehistoric and Early Christian
discovery of ancient artefacts or
Ireland: A Guide. Batsford 1966.
archaeological objects should be
reported without dealy to:
M. Herity and G. Eogan Ireland in
Prehistory. Routledge and Kegan Paul
The Director, 1977.
National Museum of Ireland,
Kildare St., P. Harbison, Pre-Christian Ireland.
Dublin 2. Thames and Hudson 1988.
Telephone (01) 6777444.
M.J. O'Kelly, Early Ireland. Cambridge
(see National Monuments Acts 1930-1994). University Press 1989.

T.B. Barry, The Archaeology of Medieval

Ireland. Methuen 1987.

N. Edwards, The Archaeology of Early

Medieval Ireland. Batsford 1990.

24