Clochan, Ballyelly, Co. Clare

Co. Clare |

Settlement Sites

Clochan, Ballyelly, Co. Clare

Above the 900-foot contour on the Burren uplands of County Clare, the landscape at Ballyelly is stripped back to bare essentials: limestone, sky, and the remnants of a way of life organised around seasonal movement.

What survives here is a clochan, a drystone corbelled structure of the kind once built without mortar, using the natural taper of carefully laid stone to close a roof over a circular floor. This one has largely collapsed, but its footprint, nearly 9.2 metres in diameter, hints at a structure of some substance.

The eastern wall is the most intact section still standing, reaching about 2 metres in height with a wall thickness of 1.9 metres. The entrance lintels survive within it, roughly a metre wide, and there are traces of what may have been a window opening on the western side. The whole structure sits to the north of centre within a large, roughly rectangular enclosure measuring 49 metres on its northeast-southwest axis and 32 metres across, and a small rectangular livestock pen, approximately 5 by 4 metres, is attached to the outer face of the enclosure wall at the south. Together, these elements form part of a wider field system on the terrace, and the site looks out in all directions across the uplands, with Sliabh Eilbhe visible to the south. The area is described as a transhumance and winter grazing zone, meaning it would have been used for moving livestock to upland pasture according to the season, a practice with very deep roots in Irish rural life. The clochan and its associated enclosure would have served that working landscape directly, offering shelter for people and a contained space for animals at an elevation where exposure to wind and weather is considerable.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Clochan, Ballyelly, Co. Clare. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement