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Mayo - 8
Croagh Patrick Summit

Site/Artefact Croagh Patrick Summit Type Hill Fort Site Number SMR Mayo 87 044 National Grid Reference 090560 East 280190 North Map ( 1:50000) Ordnance Survey Ireland, Discovery Series 30 List of Sites and Artefacts Click Here Interactive Map Click Here

Diagram showing hut sites on Croagh Patrick summit (After Morahan, 2001) Computer generated model of settlement on the summit of Croagh Partrick (Robert Killkelly & Associates)

Description
Traditionally hillforts more than any other monuments were believed to have had their origins in the Iron Age, but increased excavations have shown that the picture is not so clear-cut (O'Kelly, 1989). The name hillfort suggests a defensive function for these enclosures, but many are seen as being sites of ceremonial ritual, serving as a tribal rather than a familial venue. Croagh Patrick with its commanding view of the landscape offered an ideal location for a hillfort, a vantage point perhaps for the powerful to control the area's resources.

Excavation Details
Excavated 1995. 'No wall face of the enclosure is evident today. However, its surviving remains in the form of a low collapsed pile of stones up to 0.5m high and 6m wide can be traced around the edge of the summit. A break in the enclosing wall at the western end may represent an entrance. It is likely that the summit was enclosed by this stone wall in the late Bronze Age or Iron Age. A number of small stone hut circles adjacent to the enclosure may also be of prehistoric date.' (Walsh, 1994)

Access/Ownership
Public

References

• Corlett, C. 2001 Antiquities of West Mayo, Wordwell, Wicklow, pp 123-125
• Hughes, H. 1991 Croagh Patrick, an Ancient Mountain Pilgrimage, Westport.
• Morahan, L. 2001 Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo archaeology, landscape and people, Croagh Patrick Archaeological Committee, Mayo, pp 82-83
• O'Kelly, M.J. 1995 Early Ireland, An Introduction to Irish Prehistory, Cambridge University Press, pp 309-310
• Walsh, G. 1994 Preliminary Report on the Archaeological Excavations on the Summit of Croagh Patrick, 1994, Cathair Na Mart, No 14, 1994, Journal of the Westport Historical Society, Mayo.

Check out the following sections of the website for related information:

• Croagh Patrick theme page

Mayo Sites and Artefacts

1. Mayo Abbey 2. Balla 3. Ballintubber Abbey 4. Tóchar Phadraig 5. Aghagower 6. Lankhill 7. Boheh 8. Croagh Patrick Summit 9. Carrownalurgan 10. Ardoley 11. Kiladangan 12. Glaspatrick 13. Shrawee 14. Clare Island - Strake 15. Clare Island - Lecarrow 16. Caher Island 17. Durless

18. Carrowmore 19. Knappaghmanagh 20. Cushalogurt 21. Carrowkeel Ecclesiastical Remains 22. Thornhill 23. Carrowkeel Murrisk 24. Carrowkeel Cahernaran 25. Carrowmacloughlin Cairn-1 26. Carrowmacloughlin Cairn-2 27. Carrowmacloughlin Cairn-3 28. Carrowmacloughlin/ Glencally/ Teevenacroaghy 29. Carrowmacloughlin Sweathouses 30. Glaspatrick Holy Well

31. Glaspatrick Rath-1 32. Glaspatrick Early Ecclesiastical Remains 33. Glaspatrick Ringfort 34. Glaspatrick Rath-2 35. Glaspatrick Ecclesiatical Remains 36. Glaspatrick Altar 38. Glaspatrick Graveyard 39. Murrisk Demesne Standing Stone-1 40. Murrisk Demesne Standing Stone-2 41. Murrisk Demesne Standing Stone-3 42. Teevenacroaghy

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