Mayo -
35
Glaspatrick
|
Site/Artefact
Enclosure
Type
Ecclesiatical Remains
Site
Number
SMR Mayo 087 00044
National Grid
Reference
090570 East
280200 North
Map (
1:50000)
Ordnance Survey Ireland,
Discovery Series No
31
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Description
Traditionally hillforts more than any
other monuments were believed to have had their
origins in the Iron Age, but increased excavations
have shown that the picture is not so clear-cut
(O'Kelly, 1989). The name hillfort suggests a
defensive function for these enclosures, but many
are seen as being sites of ceremonial ritual,
serving as a tribal rather than a familial venue.
Croagh Patrick with its commanding view of the
landscape offered an ideal location for a hillfort,
a vantage point perhaps for the powerful to control
the area's resources
Excavation Details
Excavated 1995. 'No wall face of the
enclosure is evident today. However, its surviving
remains in the form of a low collapsed pile of
stones up to 0.5m high and 6m wide can be traced
around the edge of the summit. A break in the
enclosing wall at the western end may represent an
entrance. It is likely that the summit was enclosed
by this stone wall in the late Bronze Age or Iron
Age. A number of small stone hut circles adjacent
to the enclosure may also be of prehistoric date.'
(Walsh, 1994)
Access/Ownership
Public
References
- Hughes, H. 1991, Croagh Patrick, An Ancient
Mountain Pilgrimage, Westport.
- Morahan, L. 2001, Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo,
archaeology, landscape and people, Westport
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Other Mayo Sites and
Artefacts
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