County: Clare Site name: BALLYDUFF (AR19)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1497
Author: Tracy Collins, Aegis Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Cairn
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 536207m, N 681163m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.877576, -8.947687
This site was described in the environmental impact statement as five box-shaped cairns, a number of field boundaries and a possible boulder burial. Eight trenches were opened to investigate the area. The stone banks and the sample of cairns tested proved to be products of clearance. The cairns, though impressively constructed, rested on the ground surface and did not cover any archaeological material. They had a base of boulders, with smaller stones piled on top. The enclosing element or boundary appeared to be a field wall augmented by further field clearance. The area to the south of this site is very green and may be the source of much of the stone.
The site may date from the early part of the 20th century or may have been part of a Famine relief scheme, although there is no documentary evidence to support this. No trace of the boulder burial was found, and it is likely that one of the smaller cairns was identified as such.
16 Avondale Court, Corbally, Limerick
