What is recorded here
Barrow is a Neolithic ring-barrow in wet County Limerick pasture, marked by a shallow fosse and faint oval shadow in grass. Máire MacDermott excavated it in 1949, finding charred seeds, an unfinished chert arrowhead and no burial chamber. The place still whispers through soil, water and memory, inviting imagination rather than certainty.
In wet, low-lying pasture, which is cut by land drains and watercourses, on the floodplain of the Camoge River, which lies 330m to E. A mound (LI023-073009-) and a ring-barrow (LI023-073011-) lie 180m to SW and SSW, respectively and an enclosure (LI023-073016-) lies 190m to S. Not depicted on OSi historic maps.
Excavated by Máire MacDermott in 1949 and described as a low circular-shaped mound (diam. 4m) defined by a well-preserved fosse with the remains of a slight outer bank (overall diam. 12m) (MacDermott 1949, 101). Prior to investigation, a depression in the bank at N was thought to indicate an entrance, however on excavation, there was no evidence to support this (ibid). Excavation did prove that the fosse had been excavated to a depth of 0.5m. There was no trace of any burials, pits, post-holes or other signs of activity. Toward the centre of the mound, there was a slight flecking of charcoal containing some charred seeds (ibid). Excavation has dated the mound to the Neolithic period based on a piece of pottery of Windmill Hill type. Other finds include an unfinished chert arrowhead, a flake of greenstone axe and a few pieces of chert and flint debitage (ibid).
Remains of monument is visible as a very faint, roughly oval-shaped cropmark on Digital Globe orthophotos taken 2011-13 and on Google Earth orthoimages taken 25/05/2017.
See attached Google Earth orthoimage 25/05/2017 and pre-excavation image of monument by Marie MacDermott (1949).
Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly
Date of upload: 30 August 2020
A ring-barrow, likely dating to the Early Bronze Age, associated with burial practices of the period; its location on a floodplain suggests possible ritual or strategic significance.
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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