Earthwork in Cummer

It flat pastureland, 250m W of a castle (GA043-070----); it formerly stood close to the shore on an arm of Lough Rusheens (now drained), opposite the castle. Marked on 3rd ed. of OS 6-inch map (1930) as an oblong mound (c. 35m by c. 25m). The visible remains comprise an oval hillock (NE-SW 36m, NW-SE 18.2m, H 3m), probably largely natural in origin. Traces of a wide flat-bottomed fosse encircle the base from SSE through W to ENE. Outside the latter, from SSE to S, are traces of an external bank. Its flat summit, lozenge-shaped in plan, has a hollow area at the centre. According to OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 131), it was built in the 17th C as an artillery platform to aid in the destruction of the nearby castle: 'a captain Elleen, who brought cannon … from Galway, … fired on it [the castle] from a battery which he raised for the purpose'. (Nolan 1901a, 36) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010