Bawn, Tyredagh Upper, Co. Clare

Bawn, Tyredagh Upper, Co. Clare

The remains of a defensive bawn wall can be found on the upper edge of a rocky outcrop near Tyredagh tower house in County Clare, sitting roughly 0.75 metres south and 1.38 metres west of the main structure.

Bawn, Tyredagh Upper, Co. Clare

These low, grass-covered ruins tell the story of medieval fortification in rural Ireland, where tower houses required additional defensive walls, known as bawns, to protect livestock and inhabitants from raids.

The surviving sections of the wall measure just over a metre thick and stretch for approximately 6.1 metres along both the southern and western sides of the site. Though time has reduced most of the structure to barely 20 centimetres in height, the southwest corner remains the best preserved portion, where two to three courses of stonework still rise half a metre above the natural rock scarp. The western section of the wall extends until it meets an expanse of natural rock outcrop, which likely served as the foundation for additional walls that have since vanished.



Archaeological evidence suggests the original bawn incorporated the natural rock formations into its defensive design, a common practice in medieval Irish fortifications. The rock outcrop continues for nearly 4 metres along the western side, terminating almost perfectly in line with where the north wall would have stood. Today, these subtle ruins offer visitors a glimpse into the defensive strategies of medieval Ireland, where natural landscape features were cleverly incorporated into man-made fortifications to create formidable defensive positions around tower houses.

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Tyredagh Upper, Co. Clare
52.88948688, -8.79999025
52.88948688,-8.79999025
Tyredagh Upper 
Castle Features 

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