County: Galway Site name: CLOUGHAUN CASTLE, Kilkreest
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 114:56 Licence number: 96E0224
Author: Anne Connolly, Archaeological Services Unit Ltd.
Site type: Castle - tower house
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 553660m, N 710832m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.145986, -8.692684
Cloghaun Castle is a thirteenth- to fourteenth-century narrow tower house, which was extensively refurbished by its present owner in 1974. As a result of the proposed development of a two-storeyed L-shaped extension to the south and east walls of the castle, an architectural survey of the existing medieval fabric and the monitoring of trial-trenches associated with the development were recommended by the National Monuments Service.
The survey of Cloghaun Castle revealed that a sizeable portion of the original medieval fabric survives, though the reconstruction of the castle in 1974 involved extensive reworking of some of this fabric and the insertion of non-original stonework to stabilise the structure. The main areas where this reworking took place were at ground-floor level on the south-east and south-west walls, in the area of the proposed development. The south-east wall appears to have been greatly reworked, especially in the ground-floor areas. It is envisaged that two original windows, one each on the first and second floors on the south-west wall, be covered by the proposed development.
The excavation of a trial-trench at the site did not reveal any archaeological material.
Oranmore Industrial Park, Claregalway Rd. Oranmore, Co. Galway
