1994:020 - NEWTOWN CASTLE, Newtown, Clare

This is the second excavation at Newtown. A previous excavation was conducted here to ascertain the stratigraphy of the site prior to the construction of an art college to the south of the site and a car park to the north (Excavations 1993, 5). The college has now been completed.

The site stands on the east slope of the mountain called Ceapaigh an Bhaile in the Burren, one mile south of Ballyvaughan.

Once owned by the O'Loughlans, this tower house is round in construction with a square batter. It is in relatively good condition with domed vaults over its ground and second floor. The third and fourth floors are open to the sky and the top of the wall is covered with scrub and ivy. A spiral staircase runs all the way up to the cap house tower giving access to the battlements and each of the intervening floors. The castle measures c. 15m high by 9m across.

The entrance doorway was originally equipped with a yett or protective iron framework which could be drawn up on the door from the outside and fastened with metal hinges and a chain. The three light windows on the third floor look very late in style. They were glazed–in itself an indication of relatively late date. A 16th- or early 17th-century date seems likely for them.

The excavation commenced on February 15th and finished on March 8th. The battlements were cleared of scrub and sod to determine the nature of the allure. A small row of slates were found on the south-west section and small stone drains were uncovered at the base of the two chimneys and the top of the stair well. The ground floor was cleared of loose slabs and rocks and modern debris.

Two trial trenches were opened up on the third floor; some of the material was removed from a section down to the floor or top of the vault. At the intersection of these trenches a posthole was uncovered measuring 0.3m by 0.28m and 0.1m deep. Two trial trenches were opened in the ground floor. Both produced finds of bone and shell mixed with boulder clay. These trenches produced redeposited material to a depth of 1m. A fragment similar to Buckly ware dates this deposition to late 18th or early 19th century. No significant archaeological layers were uncovered in the ground floor. Soil samples produced no significant indication of archaeological material. The site was probably built around the late 16th to early 17th century. The third floor produced late fragments of delft from the sod layer and bone and shell from the deeper deposits next to the vault.

The remains of what could have been either a bawn or cashel wall is situated on the west of the site just across the road. The wall has no mortar and is typical of cashel-like construction. It measures 47m long, 1m wide and is oriented north-south. In some places the face of the wall shows up to two courses of large blocks up to a metre in length.

57 Upper Newcastle, Galway