County: Limerick Site name: COONAGH WEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A005/2019
Author: Graham Hull, TVAS Ireland Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 553260m, N 656919m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.661444, -8.690915
A drumlin at the margin of dry ground and the alluvium-rich flood-plain of the River Shannon was enclosed by a circular ditch (35m diameter, 3m wide and 1m deep). Test slots across the ditch evidenced a very high animal bone content. Worked antler, a saddle quern and a penannular ring brooch (provisionally dated to the 5th to 7th century AD) were found. A series of shallow gullies and post-holes, both internal and external to the enclosure, suggests that evidence for structures is present. The site may be a type of ringfort that exploited a dry gravel mound in a predominantly wet and marginal landscape. The site will be fully excavated in early 2005.
Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare
