Discover Alone, back to main map

Cairn

Cairn, unclassified

What is recorded here

Cairn is a levelled stone mound in County Limerick, Ireland, where a broken hone stone and faint peer mounds suggest an old working landscape now hidden beneath reclaimed pasture.
Discovered during the excavation of a short cist (LI018-01102-) in September 1989; it was found c. 65m NE of the cist (Doody 1992, 219-20; Doody 1993, figs 2 & 6). Excavation of the cairn revealed little of its structure which had 'been almost completely levelled' (Doody 1992, 219) except for a basal layer of stones resting on solid bedrock. According to the landowner this feature, before being disturbed during land reclamation, was 'roughly circular in plan with a diameter of c. 4-5 meters and a height of approximately 1 meter above the surrounding bog' (ibid.). Doody (ibid., 220) concluded that this was probably 'a field clearance cairn which had been thrown up before the onset of the peat growth'. A broken hone stone (Doody 1993, fig. 8) was recovered from the cairn fill, though 'its association with the cairn is not certain' (Doody 1992, 220). Doody's map (Doody 1993, fig. 2) shows a 'peat covered mound (levelled)' c. 20m to ENE, a 'peat covered mound' c. 30m to NNW, and a ' low mound' c. 40m to NE of the cairn. There is now no visible trace of these features in a field of reclaimed pasture. Compiled by: Denis Power Date of upload: 26 August 2011

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
No visible remains or recorded as destroyed

Places near here

Add to this placeAdd a picture Comment or add a tip

Explore 1,118,481 places