834 NMS sites 772 within protection zone 21 listed buildings 8 of 9 archaeological periods

Bunratty Upper is a barony of County Clare, in the historical province of Munster (Irish: Bun Raite Uachtarach), covering 218 km² of land. The barony records 834 NMS archaeological sites and 21 NIAH listed buildings, placing it at around the 91st percentile among 280 ROI baronies for sites per km². This means it is in the top tenth of all baronies for sites per km². Dated archaeological evidence runs from the Neolithic through to the Modern, spanning 8 of 9 archaeological periods, placing the barony in the 57th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for chronological depth. This means it is in the upper half of all baronies for chronological depth. The largest dated subset of recorded sites dates to the Early Medieval. Logainm flags 29 placenames in the barony as carrying a recognised heritage root; the largest share — around 52% — are names associated with pre-christian defensive.

Detailed boundary map of BUNRATTY UPPER barony, CLARE
Bunratty Upper boundary detail
Regional context map showing BUNRATTY UPPER barony within CLARE
Bunratty Upper in regional context

Heritage at a glance

Percentile rankings throughout this profile compare each barony only against the other 279 Republic of Ireland baronies.

834
Recorded NMS sites
91st percentile
772
Within protection zone
92.6% of recorded sites
21
NIAH listed buildings
8th percentile
218 km²
Barony area

The recorded heritage of Bunratty Upper

The National Monuments Service Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) is the statutory inventory of archaeological sites for the Republic of Ireland, maintained by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Sites recorded here include earthworks, ringforts, megalithic tombs, ecclesiastical remains, and post-medieval features; not every record is legally protected, but each is registered as a monument of archaeological interest.

The National Monuments Service records 834 archaeological sites in Bunratty Upper, putting it at the 91st percentile among 280 ROI baronies for sites per km². This means it is in the top tenth of all baronies for sites per km². Protection coverage is near-universal — 772 sites (93%) fall within a recorded monument protection zone, indicating an extensively surveyed landscape. The dominant category is defensive sites — ringforts, enclosures, hillforts, and stone forts (450 sites, 54% of the record). Ringfort – cashel is the most prevalent type, making up 19% of the barony's recorded sites (156 records) — well above the ROI average of 5% across all baronies where this type occurs. Ringfort – cashel is the stone-walled equivalent of the rath, found mainly in upland or western areas, broadly dated 500–1000 AD. Other significant types include Enclosure (129) and Ringfort – rath (90). Enclosure is a banked or ditched feature of uncertain type, used as a catch-all where the original function cannot be determined from surface evidence; Ringfort – rath is an earthen ringfort enclosed by a bank and external ditch — the most common Early Medieval farmstead, broadly dated 500–1000 AD. Across the barony's 218 km², this gives a recorded density of 3.83 sites per km².

Most common monument types

Hover or tap a monument type to see its definition.

TypeCount
Ringfort – cashel the stone-walled equivalent of the rath, found mainly in upland or western areas, broadly dated 500–1000 AD 156
Enclosure a banked or ditched feature of uncertain type, used as a catch-all where the original function cannot be determined from surface evidence 129
Ringfort – rath an earthen ringfort enclosed by a bank and external ditch — the most common Early Medieval farmstead, broadly dated 500–1000 AD 90
Fulacht fia a horseshoe-shaped Bronze Age burnt mound built around a sunken trough beside a water source, traditionally interpreted as a cooking site 77
Burnt mound a heap of fire-cracked stone, ash and charcoal, with no surviving trough, dated Bronze Age to early medieval 37
Earthwork an unclassified earthen structure with no diagnostic features that allow a more specific classification 34
Ritual site – holy well a well or spring traditionally associated with a saint, often credited with healing properties; many trace earlier ritual origins but devotion is documented from the medieval period onwards 26
Excavation – miscellaneous 22

Chronological distribution

The dated archaeological record for Bunratty Upper spans from the Neolithic through to the Modern, with activity attested across 8 of 9 archaeological periods. Every period from earliest to latest is represented in the record — an unbroken sequence of dated activity across the full chronological span. Activity concentrates most heavily in the Early Medieval (283 sites, 42% of dated material), with the Iron Age forming a secondary peak (180 sites, 27%). A further 155 recorded sites (19% of the overall NMS register for the barony) carry no period attribution — appearing as 'Unknown' in the bar chart below. This typically reflects either records that pre-date the standardised period vocabulary or sites awaiting specialist dating review, rather than a genuine absence of chronological evidence.

Mesolithic
0
Neolithic
23
Early Bronze Age
34
Middle Late Bronze Age
121
Iron Age
180
Early Medieval
283
Medieval
29
Post Medieval
8
Modern
1
Unknown
155

Sample of recorded monuments

Show 25 sample monuments (of 834 total)

A representative sample of 25 recorded monuments drawn from the barony’s 834 total NMS entries. Sites within a recorded monument protection zone and rarer site types are prioritised so the list shows a meaningful cross-section rather than only the most common type. Each entry shows the official Sites and Monuments Record reference number and the description published by the National Monuments Service.

Bridge

SMR CL025-233001-Aughrim (Kelly) (Inchiquin By.),NutfieldProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Inscribed stone

SMR CL025-233002-Nutfield,Aughrim (Kelly) (Inchiquin By.)Protected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Religious house – Augustinian canons

SMR CL026-014001-Inchicronan IslandProtected

Traditionally an early site, a church had been built by the 12th century which was granted to Clare Abbey (CL033-120—-) by Donal Mor O'Brien in 1189. It is listed in the ecclesiastical taxation of 1302-06 and in 1421…

Building

SMR CL034-119002-Ballyglass (Bunratty Upper By.)Protected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Concentric enclosure

SMR CL034-025001-CahershaughnessyProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Stone circle

SMR CL034-086—-Clooneybronze_ageProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Inauguration site

SMR CL034-095007-Toonagh (Bunratty Upper By.)Protected

Situated in a natural amphitheatre bounded to N and E by a curving ridge with the Hell River immediately to the SW. A possible ring-barrow (CL034-095001-) reused as an inauguration site. According to FitzPatrick (2004,…

Designed landscape – tree-ring

SMR CL034-135—-BallyhickeyProtected

Listed as 'Enclosure' in the RMP (1996). Indicated as an enclosure with trees on the 1842 and 1921 eds. of the OS 6-inch map, and situated on a gentle S and SW-facing slope. A subcircular area (int. dims. 33m N-S; 28m…

Henge

SMR CL034-143—-CoogaunProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Ceremonial enclosure

SMR CL042-020—-BallykiltyProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Settlement deserted – medieval

SMR CL042-027—-Quin,QuingardensProtected

A number of grass-covered foundations of rectangular structures of different sizes as well as associated roadways are visible immediately S of Quin Friary (CL042-027002-). Quin is described by McInerney (2014, 84) as an…

Castle – Anglo-Norman masonry castle

SMR CL042-027001-QuinProtected

Situated on a bend of the River Rine at the NE edge of Quin village with some defense afforded by the river to the W and N. The ground falls away sharply towards the river to W and N. This Anglo-Norman castle was built…

Religious house – Franciscan friars

SMR CL042-027002-QuinProtected

Situated on a W-facing slope on the E bank of the River Rine at the NE edge of Quin village, Quin Friary (known locally as Quin Abbey) is built on the burnt-out ruins of an Anglo-Norman de Clare castle (CL042-027001-).…

Ringfort – unclassified

SMR CL042-043—-Ballymacloon Eastearly_medievalProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Barrow – embanked barrow

SMR CL042-091—-KnopogeProtected

This site is located east of Knappogue Castle in a large field used for pasture immediately beside the Sixmilebridge-Ennis road. The surface of the field in which the site is located is uneven with long curvilinear…

Habitation site

SMR CL034-214—-Ballyslattery Or Newgrove,Carrahan,Maghera (Bunratty Upper By.)Protected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Mound

SMR CL034-203003-BallyhickeyProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Architectural fragment

SMR CL034-231—-Muckinish (Bunratty Upper By.)Protected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Post row – peatland

SMR CL034-232—-Muckinish (Bunratty Upper By.)Protected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Burnt spread

SMR CL034-221011-MoyrieskProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Castle – ringwork

SMR CL025-172003-BallycarrollProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Ring-ditch

SMR CL026-186001-Cloonagowanbronze_ageProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Memorial stone

SMR CL034-087004-ClooneyProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Wall monument

SMR CL042-027010-QuinProtected

A slender wall monument (Wth 2.4m; D 0.8m) occupies the NE corner of the chancel of Quin Abbey (CL042-027002-). A large slab with a moulded plinth is surmounted by a three-arched canopy with a widely spreading cornice…

Ringfort – cashel

SMR CL026-033—-Carrowdotiaearly_medievalProtected

The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To…

Listed buildings

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) is a state survey appraising buildings of architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social, or technical interest. Each surveyed structure receives a rating from International (the highest, for buildings of European importance) through National, Regional, Local, and Record-Only.

The NIAH records only 21 listed buildings in Bunratty Upper, the 8th percentile across ROI baronies — a relatively thin architectural record. The highest-graded structures include 3 of National significance. The Republic holds 937 National-graded buildings in total, so this barony accounts for around 0% of the national total. Construction dates concentrate most heavily in the Late Georgian (1800-1830) period. The most-recorded building type is church/chapel (5 examples, 24% of the listed stock).

Terrain and environment

Mean elevation across the barony is 49m — the 15th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for elevation. This means it is in the bottom fifth of all baronies for elevation. This is a relatively low-lying landscape by ROI standards. Elevation matters for heritage because higher-altitude baronies typically favour defensive monuments — ringforts and hilltop forts placed on prominent ground — while lowland baronies are more likely to carry the dense settlement and church networks of intensive agricultural landscapes. The barony reaches 305m at its highest point — a vertical span of more than 256m within its boundary, indicating significant topographic diversity. Mean slope is 4.0° — the 57th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for slope. This means it is in the upper half of all baronies for slope. Slope is a key control on both land use and archaeological preservation: steep ground resists ploughing and tends to preserve earthworks intact, while gentle slopes favour intensive cultivation that damages or destroys surface archaeology over time. The Topographic Wetness Index averages 10.6, the 42nd percentile among 280 ROI baronies for wetness. This means it is in the lower half of all baronies for wetness. Drainage matters for heritage because poorly-drained ground preserves organic archaeology (wooden trackways, leather, textiles, and on rare occasions human remains) far better than free-draining soil; well-drained ground favours arable use but destroys organic material rapidly. The land cover is dominated by improved grassland (69%) and woodland (28%).

Terrain measurements

Mean elevation49.1 m
Max elevation305.1 m
Mean slope
Wetness index (TWI)10.62 42nd pct
Grassland68.6%
Woodland27.8% 94th pct
Urban land1.3% 58th pct

Where this barony sits in the Republic of Ireland

Drainage
42nd
Woodland
94th

Geology and preservation

Bedrock geology shapes the landscape long before any settlement begins — controlling soil drainage, agricultural potential, the survival of upstanding monuments, and the preservation of buried archaeology. The figures below come from the Geological Survey Ireland 1:100,000 bedrock map.

The bedrock underlying Bunratty Upper is predominantly limestone (73% of the barony by area), laid down during the Carboniferous period (83% by area, around 359 to 299 million years ago). Limestone is the most heritage-rich bedrock in Ireland. It supports fertile, well-drained soils that favoured dense Early Medieval settlement and Norman manorial agriculture, and it weathers into karst features — sinkholes, caves, swallow holes, and souterrains — that frequently carry archaeology. Where peat overlies limestone, organic preservation can be exceptional. With 7 distinct rock types mapped, the barony sits in the top third of ROI baronies for geological diversity (69th percentile) — typically a sign of complex tectonic history or coastal mosaics of differing rock units.

Dominant geological periodCarboniferous (83%)
Dominant rock typeLimestone (73%)
Mapped formations23
Distinct rock types7 69th pct for diversity

Rock type composition

Limestone
73%
Mudstone, Siltstone, Conglomerate
14%
Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale
4%
Llimestone
3%
Greywacke, Siltstone And Shale
3%

Largest mapped unit: Waulsortian Limestones (20% of the barony)

Placename evidence

Logainm records 29 heritage-diagnostic placenames for Bunratty Upper, drawn from townland and civil-parish names across the barony. The dominant stratum is pre-Christian and Early Medieval defensive — ráth-, lios-, dún-, and caiseal-prefixed names that mark Iron Age and early historic settlement. The leading diagnostic roots are cill- (11 — church), ráth- (4 — earthen ringfort), and cathair- (4 — stone fort). This is broadly in line with the ROI average of 30.7 heritage placenames per barony. The presence of multiple heritage strata side by side indicates layered occupation of the landscape across successive prehistoric and historic periods. Logainm records 208 placenames for Bunratty Upper (predominantly townland names). Of these, 29 (14%) carry one of the diagnostic Gaelic roots tracked above; the remainder draw on more generic landscape vocabulary that does not encode a heritage period.

Pre-Christian / Early Medieval Defensive

RootCountMeaning
ráth-4earthen ringfort
cathair-4stone fort
dún-2hilltop or promontory fort
caiseal-2stone ringfort

Early Christian Ecclesiastical

RootCountMeaning
cill-11church (early)
teampall-1church (later medieval)

Burial, Ritual, and Norse-Contact

RootCountMeaning
carn-2cairn
gall-2foreigner — Norse settlement marker

About this profile

Click any section below to expand.

What is a barony?

A barony is a historic administrative unit in Ireland, broadly equivalent to an English hundred. The 280 baronies used here are from the OSi 2019 National Statutory Boundaries (generalised 20m), covering the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. Baronies derive from the Norman period, were formalised in the 17th century, and have not been redrawn for statistical purposes. They vary enormously in area, from compact urban baronies in Dublin to vast upland baronies in Connacht, and should not be compared by raw site count without accounting for area differences.

What counts as a site?

This profile combines three distinct heritage registers, each with its own definition of what constitutes a recordable site:

  • Archaeological sites (NMS). The National Monuments Service Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) catalogues every known archaeological monument or site of archaeological interest in the Republic, from prehistoric burial mounds and ringforts to medieval churches and post-medieval defensive works. Inclusion does not require legal protection — only that the site has been identified, surveyed, and assessed as having archaeological value. A separate subset of these sites lies within a recorded protection zone, which gives them statutory protection under the National Monuments Acts.
  • Listed buildings (NIAH). The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records buildings of architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social, or technical interest. Each surveyed structure is appraised on a five-tier scale: International, National, Regional, Local, and Record-Only. The NIAH appraisal is informational rather than strictly statutory, but it underpins local-authority Record of Protected Structures (RPS) listings.
  • Heritage placenames (Logainm). Logainm is the authoritative database of Irish placenames maintained by the Placenames Branch. This profile applies a heritage-diagnostic classifier to the Irish-language form of each townland name, flagging roots that signal defensive sites (ráth-, lios-, dún-, caiseal-, cathair-), ecclesiastical foundations (cill-, teampall-, domhnach-, mainistir-), prehistoric burial-ritual features (tuaim-, carn-, leaba-), or Norse-contact settlement (gall-). Townlands without one of these diagnostic roots are not flagged here — they may still carry historical significance, but that significance is not encoded in the name itself.
Editorial principles

The narrative sections of this profile follow several explicit principles:

  • Evidential. Every claim about this barony’s heritage character is anchored in the underlying register data. Where a site count, a placename count, or a percentile rank is cited, it is computed from the source datasets at export time, not estimated.
  • Comparative. Counts and metrics are reported alongside their percentile rank against the other 279 ROI baronies. A barony with 50 ringforts in absolute terms could be unusually high or unusually low depending on its size and regional context; percentile ranking removes that ambiguity.
  • Transparent on limits. Where a register has known coverage gaps, survey biases, or data-quality issues that affect this barony’s figures, the profile flags them rather than presenting the numbers as definitive.
  • No interpretation beyond what the data supports. The narrative does not speculate about historical events, social dynamics, or cultural meaning beyond what the recorded heritage and placename evidence directly attests.
Data caveats and limits
  • NMS Sites and Monuments Record is the product of survey campaigns conducted at different intensities across different counties and decades. Some baronies have been surveyed more thoroughly than others, and absolute counts should be read in that light. Sites destroyed by development before survey are typically not represented; sites in heavily forested or upland terrain are sometimes under-recorded.
  • NIAH coverage is broadly complete for the Republic of Ireland but the survey was conducted on a rolling county-by-county basis, and the most recent appraisal date varies. Buildings demolished or substantially altered after their original survey may still appear in the register; conversely, recent buildings of merit may not yet have been appraised.
  • Logainm classification applies a deliberately conservative pattern-matching approach to the Irish-language townland forms. The classifier prioritises true positives over recall: a townland may carry a heritage signal that the classifier doesn’t recognise, particularly where the diagnostic root has been heavily anglicised or where the townland name draws on a less common term. The 60,000+ townland records and ~9,800 classified placenames give a substantial signal at barony scale, but individual townland names should be checked against Logainm directly for definitive interpretation.
  • Period attribution. The chronological distribution reflects only those NMS sites that carry a recognised period attribution in the source data. Sites listed as “Unknown” period are excluded from the dated subset.
  • Boundary changes. Some baronies have undergone minor boundary adjustments since their 19th-century definition; the OSi 2019 generalised boundaries used here are the current statutory definition and may differ slightly from historical maps in border areas.
  • Bedrock geology is mapped at 1:100,000 scale, which means local variation within a barony — small pockets of different rock type, mineral veins, alluvium overlying bedrock — is generalised. The dominant-system and rocktype figures are area-weighted, so a barony reading “70% Carboniferous limestone” may still contain small but archaeologically important pockets of older or younger rock. Around 3% of GSI polygons do not match the lexicon and contribute no rocktype or system attribution.
Data sources
  • National Monuments Service — Sites and Monuments Record (SMR)
    Contributes archaeological site records, classifications, periods, and recorded protection-zone status.
    © Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage · Licence: Open data, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    https://data.gov.ie/dataset/national-monuments-service-archaeological-survey-of-ireland
  • National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH)
    Contributes listed-building records and architectural-significance grades.
    © Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage · Licence: Open data, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    https://data.gov.ie/dataset/national-inventory-of-architectural-heritage-niah-national-dataset
  • Logainm — Placenames Database of Ireland
    Contributes Irish-language and English townland names, civil parish associations, and barony assignments for the heritage-placename classifier.
    © Government of Ireland, Placenames Branch · Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland (CC BY-ND 3.0 IE)
    https://www.logainm.ie/
  • Ordnance Survey Ireland — National Statutory Barony Boundaries 2019
    Contributes the canonical 280 barony boundaries (generalised 20m).
    © Ordnance Survey Ireland / Government of Ireland · Licence: Open data, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    https://data-osi.opendata.arcgis.com/
  • EURODEM — European Digital Elevation Model
    Contributes elevation, slope, and topographic-wetness statistics, plus the hillshade rendering on each barony’s topographic map.
    © Maps for Europe · Licence: Open data
    https://www.mapsforeurope.org/datasets/euro-dem
  • ESA WorldCover
    Contributes land-cover classifications for grassland, woodland, cropland, wetland, urban, and water statistics.
    © European Space Agency · Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    https://esa-worldcover.org/en
  • Geological Survey Ireland — 1:100,000 Bedrock Geology
    Contributes bedrock geological data: dominant geological system (Carboniferous, Devonian, etc.), rock-type composition, and formation-level mapping, with the GSI Bedrock Lexicon providing descriptive attributes.
    © Geological Survey Ireland · Licence: Open data, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
    https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/data-and-maps/Pages/Bedrock.aspx

Explore more: Search any of the 280 ROI baronies, browse by historical province, or read the methodology and data sources for the full Republic of Ireland Heritage Tool.

Spotted an error? This dataset is updated continuously. Email contact@danielkirkpatrick.co.uk with corrections, missing records, or suggestions for improvement.