Altar (Site of) — Inishmurray

At a junction of field dykes on a low hill north-east of the Cashel/ecclesiastical enclosure (SL001-001001-). The Ordance Survey maps of 1837 and 1912 indicate an ‘altar’ located at the junction of massive drystone field dykes that are now entirely overgrown by tall bracken. Nothing was found by the 1998 survey team or by Markus Casey, for the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, in 1994. The leacht may in fact have been incorporated within the later stone dykes, although it was evidently free-standing when seen by Wakeman (1893, 155): ‘All has been described except one small altar, situated to the north-east of the Cashel, about midway between it and Teernaneane on the brink of the Atlantic. The pile is now nameless, and as the stones of which it composed are much disturbed, further description of the ruin will not be necessary.’ Although nothing can now be found, the location is of some interest as it lies on a low inland rise or summit and is, therefore, on a horizon line viewed from the Cashel. Thus, from that viewpoint, it appears to continue the circuit of leachta which otherwise occur nearer the cliff edges. The above description is derived from the results of a survey of the archaeological monuments on Inishmurray undertaken in 1997-1999 and published in: Jerry O’Sullivan and Tomás Ó Carragáin 2008 Inishmurrary. Monks and pilgrims in an Atlantic landscape. Volume 1: Archaeological Survey and Excavations 1997-2000. Cork. The Collins Press. Date of upload: 19 February 2018