Cairn — unclassified in Poulacarran

In level, rough grazing to the SSE of Carran Church (CL009-075001-) and Graveyard (CL009-075002-) overlooking the Poulacarran Valley to the E, and also associated with a Settlement Cluster (CL009-075005-) concentrated just NW of Carran Church. One of five small cairns visible to the SSE (CL009-075003- and CL009-075015-), SW (CL009-075016- and CL009-075017-) and at W (CL009-075018-) of Carran Graveyard. While they may be the result of – or may have been augmented by - field clearance, it’s possible that some, at least, (in particular CL009-075003- and CL009-075018-) may have functioned as penitential stations associated with Carran Church? Westropp (1900-1902, 134) recorded, ‘South of the church (CL009-075001-) is a small cairn, round which coffins are carried …’ This is likely to be the ‘Carn’ recorded on the OS 6-inch maps (CL009-075003-) The practice was not recorded by the time of Swinfen's writing (1992, 9). Westropp (1906-1907, 460) further reported that a cist was covered by a cairn in Carran townland (see also Westropp 1898, 362), however, no cist is visible in any of these five cairns. CL009-075015- was recorded by Dowd, Crumlish and O’Gorman (2007, 36-37: Cairn D) as situated c. 20m to the N of another (CL009-075003-) and comprises a low, circular cairn (diam. 4m; H 0.5m) covered in moss and grass, with a large horizontal slab (L c. 1m; Wth c. 0.3m) lying on the SE sector. References Dowd, A. Crumlish B. O’Gorman D. 2007. A landscape survey of Carran Church in the Burren, Co. Clare. Unpublished thesis for the Masters in Landscape Archaeology, NUI Galway. Swinfen, A. 1992. Forgotten stones. Ancient church sites of the Burren and environs. Dublin. The Lilliput Press. Westropp, T.J. 1898 Prehistoric remains in the Burren, County Clare (Carran and Kilcorney). The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 8, 352-366. Westropp, T.J. 1906-1907 The cists, dolmens and pillars of the western half of the county of Clare. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 26, 447-72. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 25 August 2022