2021:756 - Templecronan, Termon, Clare

The site at Templecronan incorporates a church CL010-021012-, a graveyard CL010-021003- and two 7^th -century shrines, CL010-021010- and CL010-021011-. One of the shrines, CL010-021011-, was located to the north of the church, outside a north-east dry stone boundary wall. This wall was being knocked by visitors who were trying to access the shrine, thus putting the shrine at imminent risk of damage. The landowners of the neighbouring field to the north-east of the site, in which the shrine is located, offered to give over a piece of their land to reincorporate the shrine within the grounds of the church and graveyard.

The work on the site at Templecronan was undertaken from October 16 to November 8, 2021 and was archaeologically monitored under the guidance of the Field Monument Advisor Programme.

The works involved the dismantling of the north-east dry stone wall, which was carried out with the assistance of the Burren Conservation Volunteers. A new dry stone wall was erected by a professional local wall builder a few meters to the northeast, thereby incorporating the 7th-century shrine CL010-021011 inside the new boundary of the church CL010-021012 and graveyard CL010-021003.

The dismantling of the north-east boundary wall took place on October 16 with the assistance of the Burren Conservation Volunteers (BCVs), run by the Burrenbeo Trust. The line of the proposed new wall was marked out. During the dismantling of the wall, a piece of a broken statue of Mary was uncovered, along with the base shard from a glass bottle.

Due to the location of the proposed wall and the fact that it would be slightly longer than the current wall, additional stones were required to build the new wall. It was agreed within the method statement that a rubble area located in the eastern corner of the site was a suitable source of additional stones. A group of BCVs worked in this area and carefully removed the loose stones. All the stones were checked for any masonry marks or architectural fragments. One stone, which had punched dressing on one face, was found and appeared to be a masonry stone that may have been used in the church or surrounding wall. This stone was left on the site in the eastern corner. A fragment of a quernstone was also found among the loose stones. As the loose stones were being removed, it became obvious that there was a line of stones at the base of the rubble. These stones were left in place. Once the line of stones became exposed, it was decided that no more stones were to be removed from this area.

The wall builder arrived on the site on November 1, 2021. He used all the original stones from the dismantled wall and built the new wall along the agreed proposed location. It was constructed in a style in keeping with the traditional dry stone walls of the Burren landscape. The new boundary wall is approximately 26m by 0.6m wide and stands at a height of 1.4m

Benefits of the work:

• The new wall has removed any immediate threat of damage to the shrine. It has also guaranteed the future preservation and protection of the shrine by the OPW, which currently manages the site.
• The shrine has been reincorporated into the complex of monuments at Templecronan from which it was separated, possibly for 200 years or more.
• It has restored the sightline between the two shrines and Templecronan Church.
• Improved access around the shrine and the north-east corner of the church. Now the church and shrine can be easily viewed from all sides.
• The line of the new wall has greatly enhanced the visual aesthetics of the Templecronan site.
• The new wall has created an element of space around the church and makes viewing and circumambulating the site more comfortable.
• The rubble stone in the eastern corner of the site has been cleared of loose stones and tidied up. This work also revealed a line of stones below, now visible.

The project involved members of the local community by having volunteers assist with the dismantling of the wall. This was done through the Burrenbeo Trust Conservation Volunteers. The involvement of local volunteers has greatly contributed to the awareness and protection of the important archaeological sites at Templecronan and throughout the Burren.

Glenard, Summerville Ave, S.C.Rd, Limerick