Ecclesiastical site in Murorgán

Turrasyline/Turas Fhlainn: Classification of this site is difficult due to the very ruined and disturbed nature of the remains. The turas from which the site derives its name was performed here within living memory and included a visit to Tobar Fhlainn (KE026-002----), at the base of the sea-cliffs c. 500m to N. This suggests an ecclesiastical origin for the site and a local tradition of a church here further supports this interpretation. The site lies on a very steep slope overlooking Brandon Bay to SE, within a field that is criss-crossed by both an old and a recently-excavated trackway. The present remains consist of the ruins of 3 or 4 clochauns and 3 piles of stones which may have been penitential stations. The westernmost structure is sub-rectangular in plan, measuring 3.45m SW-NE x 2.55m NW-SE internally, and the present remains appear to represent 2 phases of construction. The earliest phase is represented by the NW wall which is curved in outline and is of neat drystone corbelled construction. It stands to a height of 1.4m. The remaining walls are vertical, roughly built and no more than .6m high. The tops of the walls are flush with the external ground level and no section of the external wall face is visible above ground. In the rubble directly SE of the structure is a small drystone-built niche of unknown function; it is .65m wide, .4m deep and .45m high. Adjoining the SW wall of the structure is an area of stone collapse in which the outline of a 2nd structure can be vaguely discerned. Its shape and dimensions are not clear. About 7.5m to NNE of the latter group of features are the remains of a possible hut. It appears to have been of corbelled drystone construction, but only a 1.45m long arc of the inner face survives, the upper course flush with the external ground level to N. The best-preserved structure lies on the E side of the recent track and consists of a circular drystone corbelled clochaun measuring 3.7m in diameter internally. The wall is 1.8m wide and a maximum of 1.8m high and the entrance is represented by a 1.4m wide gap at S. A recess in the wall, at the present level of the ground surface in the interior, measures .7m in width, .6m in depth and .4m in height. The ground to E and NE of the latter clochaun has been terraced and the outline of a possible hut can also be discerned here. A 4.2m long section of the outer wall face stands to a height of .6m but otherwise the outline is indicated by a low mound of stone collapse. The masonry differs from that used in the other structures in that the stones used are considerably larger, averaging about .75m in length, and the possibility exists that this walling was part of an enclosure wall rather than, or perhaps as well as, a hut. However, no further traces of an enclosure wall are evident. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 872. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 8 August 2013