What is recorded here

Ecclesiastical enclosure in Stowlin: Galway countryside, medieval Christian time. A church and graveyard sit near the centre of a broad oval boundary, likely marked once by bank and ditch. The plough has eaten the edges, but the shape still emerges beneath pasture when instruments or drones pass overhead. Inside the oval, smaller rectangular outlines appear, perhaps belonging to the church or arriving later. The enclosure is not a monument now; it is a memory the land keeps repeating.

In pastureland. This ploughed-out ecclesiastical enclosure came to light in 2013 following a geophysical survey around the church (GA108-224----) and graveyard (GA108-224001-) which are almost centrally located within it. A drone survey carried out in July 2018 confirmed that the enclosure (153m N-S; 138m E-W) was roughly oval-shaped in plan and that enclosing element most likely consisted of a bank (Wth 5-7m) and fosse. Further features revealed in this survey included a number of internal rectangular and subrectangular enclosures that may be associated with the ecclesiastical enclosure or may be later features (Carey no date). Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 12 June 2019

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