Bawn, Muckinish East, Co. Clare
On the western shore of Pouldoody Bay in County Clare, the remnants of a historic bawn wall trace the outline of what was once a defensive enclosure around Muckinish Castle.
Bawn, Muckinish East, Co. Clare
The location itself is striking, with two small tidal inlets to the east and west-northwest that would have served as natural landing points for boats, whilst gentle pastureland rises to the south. Though the castle itself is recorded separately in archaeological surveys, this surrounding wall tells its own story of medieval or early modern fortification in this coastal setting.
The surviving sections of the bawn wall are in poor condition but still reveal the original layout. To the east, a stretch of wall runs north to south for about 18 metres before turning west for another 4.5 metres, creating what was the northeastern corner of the enclosure. These remnants stand no more than 0.8 metres high and measure 0.7 metres thick, built from large, irregular undressed blocks and boulders; the inner face has been robbed down to foundation level over the centuries. The western wall survives in two separate sections, slightly thicker at 0.9 metres wide, with the northern portion extending for 8 metres and the southern section for just 3 metres.
Based on these surviving fragments, archaeologists estimate the complete bawn would have enclosed a rectangular area measuring more than 20 metres from north to south and approximately 17 metres east to west. At the southwestern corner of this defensive perimeter stands a small rectangular building, catalogued separately in the archaeological record. This entire complex, compiled in archaeological surveys by Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin, offers a glimpse into the defensive strategies employed by landowners in coastal Clare, where the threat could come as easily from the sea as from the land.