Westhopp— Cw^.s, Dolmena, and Pilars of East Clare. 95 



uround and under the plants was a mass of deer's bones, recalling the 

 popular intei-pretation of the townland nanie Fiaghmore, "the big 

 deer." Directly beneath were found three human skulls, " two 

 females and one male." All the teeth were sound but much worn. 

 The lower jaws were, it is said, still in the sockets, and the arm-bones 

 with the shoulder-blades. Among these bones lay two long oak poles, 

 one neatly shaped with a sharj) implement. Ko metal was found, 

 but it may have sunk in the deep peat below. 



A fragment of a very neat gritstone quern is preserved ; it was about 

 20 inches it diameter, with a ring 8 inches wide and a central hole, 

 with three concentric and rounded edges, each an inch wide. A straight 

 band crossed these, and girdled a small handle-hole, which did not pass 

 through the slab. I could not ascertain the locality of this " find." 



Ai'ound the margin of the lake were found some twenty hearths of 

 gritstones ; they measured about 6 feet across, with wonderfully fi-esh 

 charcoal and remains of pigs and goats, the long bones were broken 

 for the marrow. Great stems and roots of bog-deal lay everywhere ; 

 all had fallen towards the east ; the tops, and in some cases the roots, 

 had been burned, or in a few cases cut. 



(6). Cloo>^et, Clooney Parish (0. S. Sheet 34, iN'o. 7). — In the pic- 

 turesque demesne of Mr. Joseph Hall, and at no great distance from 

 the fifteenth-century castle and church, are two remarkable remains. 



(«) The first is of a type not very common 

 in Ireland ; it occupies the summit of a low 

 natural mound near a stream, and is much 

 overthrown. Enough, fortunately, remains 

 to show the plan. The late Mr. Borlase^ 

 (who had not seen it) considered it a " boat- 

 shaped enclosure " ; but, as I pointed out to 

 him when sending the plan, the structure 

 is a nearly straight-sided but not rectangular 

 oblong inclosure, with the angles cut off. It 

 is formed of two rows of slabs, equidistant 

 and about a foot apart. The "southern" 

 side actually points E.S.E. and W.N.AV., and 

 is 10 feet long; the northern is 12 feet, and 

 the remaining sides about 20 feet each. A ^^°- 15.— Clooney. 



small entrance, with two side-blocks, opened eastward ; and a slab stood 

 in line with its northern jamb piojecting at right angles fi'om the inner 



Dolmens of Ireland," vol. i., p. 82. 



