Westuopp — Earthworks and Ring- Walls in Co. Limerick. 41 



made (and not carved out of the hillock) it is 6 feet or 8 feet high ; near the 

 gate, some trace of the stonework of a pier remains. 



The Bailey adjoins this to the north-east. Its garth has two terraces, a steep 

 slope falling from the fosse-ring (there 12 feet high), the ring being 30 feet 

 to 33 feet wide; the upper terrace is 18 feet ; then there are a slope 15 feet 

 long and a wet terrace, also 18 feet wide, covered with flaggers (yellow iris). 

 The last terrace is raised 13 feet above the fosse in the middle, but 18 feet at 

 the south-east coi'ner ; here is a small mound 12 feet across, probably the base 

 of a bretesche or wooden turret. In it is a deep cut, probably made by some 

 persons under the common obsession of treasure-seeking. The opposite corner 

 was formerly covered by bushes, now removed, which led me to suppose that 

 a similar mound was concealed there ; but there is none. The fosse is 9 feet 

 wide and 4 feet deep, save at the south-west turn, where, cutting through the 

 hill edge, it is again 13 feet deep. It runs boldly up the slope to the great 

 fosse-ring on either flank of the Bailey, getting nearer to the field level till it 

 runs up the ring, only marked by its outer mound, which is about 6 feet wide 

 and 3 feet to 4 feet high. The Bailey itself is 99 feet long to the north-east 

 and 90 feet along the south. There seem to be old road-tracks up the hill to 

 the east and north-east. The mote, the rath, and another ring- fort farther 

 away to the S.S.E. are in line.' 



The Eath is a fine earthwork,- standing on the slightly higher southern 

 ridge of the plateau, and affords the fine view of the Castle, here reproduced. 

 Its platform is about 125 feet over all and 110 feet inside ; slight, low ramparts 

 .surround it, and two remarkable cross-mounds' (with a pit in the centre), 

 which I can only suppose to have been the base of some timber structure or 

 tower. The platform is 18 feet to 20 feet high, the sides rising 1 in 1|- 

 or 2. The fosse is 8 feet to 9 feet deep and 10 feet to 12 feet wide below. 

 The next ring is about 10 feet high and 7 feet wide on the summit, and 15 feet 

 to 17 feet thick at the base. The outer fosse is 21 feet wide above, 12 feet 

 below, and 5 feet to 6 feet deep, with a slight outer ring 5 feet wide on the top 

 There are no houses, or hut-sites, or any ancient mounds on the plateau 



'Can they be "the high mounds" of " Shanagolden in Connello " (Sengualan 

 Cladhaird Ua Connaill) in Cathreim Ceallachain Caisil (ed. Bugge, pp. 30 and 87J, the 

 scene of one of Cellachan's fifteen battles with the Danes ? For a good description of 

 Shanid, see A. Curry's account in Ordnance Survey Letters, Co. Limerick, vol. ii 

 (ms. 14 E 8 R.I. Acad.), pp. 30-33. Gough in his additimis does not name the mote. 



2 Plate III, fig. 2. Plan and section, Plate IV. 



2 "Described in Hall's "Ireland," vol. i, p. 375, as " a rather deep cut "—a curious 

 mistake even for that most inaccurate work. 



S.I.A. PBGC, VOL. XXXIII, SECT. C. [6] 



