Town defences in Bunratty East,bunratty West — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Broad-based high-crested ramparts ran from the stream to the sea, enclosing Bunratty East and Bunratty West against invasion and flood. A massive eight-metre ditch cut through the earth, marking the true boundary of the medieval borough. Later reclamation banks replaced these martial lines, transforming a fortress into a shield against the rising tide.

The 14th century Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh refers to the borough of Bunratty being defended by ‘broad-based high-crested ramparts, running from the stream to the sea’ (Bradley 1988, 22). Monitoring of foundation trenches for an extension to the Shannon Shamrock Hotel in 1991 (O’Rahilly 1992) showed evidence for a ditch (Wth 8.5m) extending E-W, filled and recut with finds dating it to the 13th/14th century. Test trenching (Wiggins 2000) in advance of a development of houses in the area revealed a substantial ditch (Wth greater than 8m, aligned E-W), likely part of the same ditch found by Celie O’Rahilly in 1991. Given its dimensions, the ditch must be considered part of the defences of the medieval borough of Bunratty (Wiggins 2000, 7-8). Some outer earthworks around Bunratty, planned by Westropp (1917, opp. p. 14) and traditionally interpreted as fortified ramparts for either 10th-century Viking or 13th-century Anglo-Norman settlements, have been shown to be 17th century in date (Bradley and King 1991). Historical and cartographic sources indicate that reclamation banks were in place by the mid-seventeenth century, built to protect the low-lying lands around Bunratty from high spring tide flooding (O’Sullivan (2001, 52). Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 2 October 2019

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