What is recorded here

Carnaun holds a huge stone ring, seventy-six metres across, where children were buried above the corner of a lost house. The fairytale name hides a brutal fact: parents placed their dead inside the wall instead of beside it. A shallow ditch still marks the northwest edge, and two gaps at the southeast wait for whoever enters. The grass covers the stones, but it does not erase the choice made there.

On a gentle S-facing slope in pastureland. This large subcircular cashel (76m N-S; 68m E-W), in fair condition, is defined by a low grassed-over drystone wall. Traces of a shallow external fosse are visible at NW. Either of two gaps (Wth 1.5m; 2m) at SE could be the original entrance (Cody 1989, 240, no. 68). The grassed-over foundation lines of a small rectangular building/house site (GA084-041002-) are visible in the NW quadrant of the interior. A children’s burial ground (GA084-041001-) occupies most of the NE quadrant and it overlies the NE corner of the house. There is a low natural flat-topped mound (diam. c. 15m) to NE of centre (ibid.). Some internal divisions are also evident. Abutting the cashel wall at SE is a rectangular area (L 25m; Wth 15m) defined by old field banks. Within it are the remains of another rectangular building (L 7m; Wth 4m) aligned E-W. This appears to be the remains of the roofed building shown on the 1838 edition of the OS 6-inch map. Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 20 January 2017

A large subcircular early-medieval stone ringfort (cashel) in Carnaun, likely dating to the 6th–10th centuries, associated with local folklore of fairy dwellings and ancient druidic or monastic activity. Its name and setting reflect a tradition of attributing supernatural or otherworldly significance to such earthworks.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.