Archeology

This site is dedicated to Carrowmoreknock, a small townland in the west of Ireland which together with the surrounding area is of outstanding natural beauty. Carrowmoreknock is situated on the banks of Lough Corrib, fourteen English miles from Galway and seven miles south of Oughterard and four and half miles east of the Moycullen-Oughterard road.

Limestone pavements, glacial hillocks, sandhills, blanket bog and stretches of agricultural land interspersed with wood and scrub cover many of the shores. Along the shore the weathered rock is so jagged in places that barefoot exploration is not advised. Hillocks are the predominant feature of Carrowmoreknock. Close to the bay is an area known as the Knocks and further inland almost parallel with the Carrowmoreknock-Oughterard road is a ridge of hillocks running from Stratheenmore( Sraid an Ti Mor) to Boreen an Turloch and beyond. There are also small lakes which occasionally flood in winter. Sadly features of our landscape that had lasted hundreds if not thousands of years have disappeared in the last hundred years and none more rapidly than in the last twenty years. Standing stones to rival Stonehenge, stone forts, dolmens, stone walls that our ancestors built and gave the west of Ireland its unique character are disappearing daily. For the most part bungalows have replaced thatched cottages. There is only one thatched cottage left in Carrowmoreknock and this was destroyed by fire in 2002. Fortunately the owner has been able to restore it and the thatching is now complete. With the decline in thatched houses skilled thatchers are difficult to find. On the eastern side of the Corrib there are a number of thatched houses so a new generation are training as thatchers. It was a thatcher from the Headford area who rethatched the house in Carrowmoreknock. This house was the former home of one of Carrowmoreknock's Lydon families, some of whom emigrated to America.

On top of a hillock not far from the Carrowmoreknock crossroads lies the remains of an enclosure known as Caherateemore. This was probably built 2000 years ago. The other ringfort or cashel is the type which is assocated with the early Christian period.

There are over 67 protected monuments in the Lough Corrib area and three of these are in Carrowmoreknock. These are to be found on sheet 55 of the 6inch to one mile ordnance survey map and are numbered as follows

029, National grid reference 12110 24091 Ringfort

030, National grid reference 12176 24081 Ringfort site Caherateemore

032, National grid reference 12155 24097 Singe-story ernhaus. There is also an ancient well called Tobair Domnach or Danach which is reputed to be a burial site. There is also a rectangular stone lined structure northwest of Boreenanturlough which may be a old burial site.

There was also the remains of an old limekiln which was in use when the majority of houses were thatched. A bungalow has been built on the site overlooking the Line Road. The walls of the thatched were washed inside and out every year with limewash. This was a measure introduced by the landlords for the prevention of disease.