Barrow, Elton, Co. Limerick
Co. Limerick |
Barrows
There is nothing to see here, and that is precisely the point.
Somewhere in the wet pasture of County Limerick, roughly 300 metres northeast of the Morningstar River, lies what may be an ancient burial mound with no surface trace whatsoever. No earthwork rises from the grass, no stones break the soil. The site is known only because of what aerial photography revealed, and even then only tentatively, catalogued as a "potential" barrow rather than a confirmed one.
A barrow is a mound of earth or stone raised over a prehistoric burial, and they are common enough across Ireland, though most survive at least in partial form above ground. This one belongs to a much larger concentration. The Elton barrow cemetery, as it has come to be known, was first identified in 1982 when the Archaeology Department at University College Cork carried out a Route Selection Study for Bórd Gáis Éireann, in consultation with ARUP Pipeline Engineering. The resulting report, published under Woodman in 1983, recorded up to 37 possible barrows within an area measuring roughly 230 metres north to south and 300 metres east to west. This particular site, designated Site No. 5, was later listed by the Discovery Programme following examination of aerial images taken during gas pipeline surveys and a dedicated aerial photographic survey of the Bruff area in 1986. That survey image, reference Bruff AP 2123, remains one of the primary pieces of evidence for its existence.
The site sits in farmland near the townland boundary with Ballinvana, where the Morningstar River provides a quiet geographical marker. Because there are no surface remains visible, a visit here is less about what you can see and more about what the landscape is quietly holding. The coordinates and aerial images compiled by Martin Fitzpatrick are publicly accessible through the national record, and Google Earth orthoimages offer a starting point for anyone wanting to orient themselves. The wet nature of the pasture means conditions underfoot will vary considerably with the season, and the site itself remains on private agricultural land, so any visit would require prior permission from the landowner.