County: Clare Site name: MOOGHAUN FORT, Mooghaun South
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Isabel Bennett and Eoin Grogan, The Discovery Programme
Site type: Hillfort
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 540763m, N 670640m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.783532, -8.878105
As part of the North Munster Research Project, under the auspices of the Discovery Programme, a small, trial excavation was undertaken in the area of a secondary enclosure situated on the middle rampart of this trivallate hillfort. A 2nd cutting was opened through a small portion of the outer rampart, and other investigations were made along the defences, to try to establish their original composition.
The fort, which is situated on a low hillock (80m OD.) in a gently undulating landscape of good agricultural land dotted with small lakes, commands a magnificent view of the surrounding area, including the Shannon Estuary. It encloses an area of about 12 hectares (30 acres). Much of it is covered with shrubs and bushes, but the enclosure investigated, 1 of 2 (and possibly more) within the ramparts (and a further without) was relatively free of this growth, facilitating excavation.
The main cutting, through the secondary enclosure on the middle rampart, was 24m long and investigated the interior of the enclosure, its wall, the middle rampart of the hillfort and a small area outside of it. Apart from finding 3 possibly medieval iron nails within the enclosure, only animal bone of a very fragmentary nature was recovered.
In the area of the rampart, when the limestone rocks and stones of which both it and the later enclosure wall were constructed were removed, the old ground surface was exposed. There were some charcoal patches here, and one possible stake-hole.
The area outside of the rampart proved to have little of archaeological interest, with bedrock appearing under the topsoil.The 2nd cutting, through an area immediately outside the outer rampart of the hillfort, showed it to be a rock-cut-U-profiled ditch, 5.26m wide and 1.7m max. depth. This lay immediately outside an externally stone-faced wall and inside another wall or bank, the make-up of which was not investigated on this occasion. Some other exploratory work, carried out further along the outer rampart, showed that, rather than consisting of external bank, ditch and inner, faced wall, it consisted of a sheer quarry face only. It is hoped to carry out further excavation next season.
13-15 Hatch St, Dublin 2
