Tirawley Heritage Profile - Daniel Kirkpatrick

By Daniel Kirkpatrick | Compiled 2026-05-13 | Logainm 168

1,484 NMS sites 1,441 within protection zone 248 listed buildings 8 of 9 archaeological periods

Tirawley is a barony of County Mayo, in the historical province of Connacht (Irish: Tír Amhlaidh), covering 1058 km² of land. The barony records 1,484 NMS archaeological sites and 248 NIAH listed buildings, placing it at around the 28th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for sites per km². This means it is in the bottom third 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 56th 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 102 placenames in the barony as carrying a recognised heritage root; the largest share — around 56% — are names associated with pre-christian defensive.

Tirawley boundary detail

Tirawley in regional context

Heritage at a glance

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

1,484

Recorded NMS sites

28th percentile

1441

Within protection zone

97.1% of recorded sites

248

NIAH listed buildings

83rd percentile

1,058 km²

Barony area

The recorded heritage of Tirawley

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 1,484 archaeological sites in Tirawley, putting it at the 28th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for sites per km². This means it is in the bottom third of all baronies for sites per km². Protection coverage is near-universal — 1,441 sites (97%) fall within a recorded monument protection zone, indicating an extensively surveyed landscape. The dominant category is defensive sites — ringforts, enclosures, hillforts, and stone forts (784 sites, 53% of the record). Ringfort – rath is the most prevalent type, making up 27% of the barony's recorded sites (407 records) — well above the ROI average of 20% across all baronies where this type occurs. Ringfort – rath is an earthen ringfort enclosed by a bank and external ditch — the most common Early Medieval farmstead, broadly dated 500–1000 AD. Other significant types include Enclosure (227) and House – indeterminate date (46). 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; House – indeterminate date is a habitation building whose date cannot be determined from available evidence. Across the barony's 1058 km², this gives a recorded density of 1.40 sites per km².

Most common monument types

Hover or tap a monument type to see its definition.

Type	Count
Ringfort – rath	407
Enclosure	227
House – indeterminate date	46
Children's burial ground	42
Crannog	42
Burnt mound	39
Mound	36

Chronological distribution

The dated archaeological record for Tirawley 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 (560 sites, 47% of dated material), with the Iron Age forming a secondary peak (305 sites, 26%). A further 296 recorded sites (20% 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

Neolithic

Early Bronze Age

107

Middle Late Bronze Age

Iron Age

305

Early Medieval

560

Medieval

Post Medieval

Modern

Unknown

296

Sample of recorded monuments

Show 25 sample monuments (of 1,484 total)

A representative sample of 25 recorded monuments drawn from the barony’s 1,484 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.

Fortification

SMR MA005-003—-Oileán Na GcapallProtected

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…

House – prehistoric

SMR MA005-010002-Béal Deirg BeagProtected

Altar

SMR MA007-002002-KnockaunProtected

Signal tower

SMR MA007-015002-Creevagh (Tirawley By.)Protected

Situated on level ground to the immediate S of a minor road that runs E-W out of the small modern dispersed rural settlement of Creevagh (73m OD) to the E. The ground to the N of the road slopes gently down to the…

Cross-inscribed pillar

SMR MA007-018003-Doonfeeny UpperProtected

Furnace

SMR MA007-079—-KnockaunProtected

Hearth

SMR MA008-002002-Beltra (Tirawley By., Lackan Par.)Protected

In a burial mound (MA008-002001-). A hearth, consisting of charcoal in a burnt layer, was noted in the eroding section face on the E-facing, seaward side of the burial mound.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date…

Shrine

SMR MA008-006002-BallinlenaProtected

Located in the N half of a graveyard (MA008-0060007-), 15m N of a church (MA008-006001-).
This monument is traditionally known as the grave of St. Cummin, who is said to have founded a monastery here in the 7th…

Sundial

SMR MA008-006009-BallinlenaProtected

Located within the W half of a graveyard (MA008-006007).
This sundial consists of a roughly rectangular or trapezoidal-shaped stone slab (Wth 0.36m at top; T 0.006m) set upright in the ground. The total length of the…

Barrow – bowl-barrow

SMR MA014-084—-Carrowkeel (Tirawley By., Rathreagh Par.)Protected

Cross – Wayside cross

SMR MA014-096003-Castlereagh (Tirawley By.)Protected

Historic town

SMR MA015-031—-Cartoon,RathfranProtected

Round tower

SMR MA022-017001-Townplots Westearly_christianProtected

Enclosed within a small, walled enclosure in the centre of the town of Killala, crowning a low hill on the SW shores of Killala Bay. A cathedral (MA022-017003-) and a souterrain (MA022-017005-) are located within a…

Cathedral

SMR MA022-017003-Townplots WestmedievalProtected

Ecclesiastical enclosure

SMR MA022-017006-Townplots Westearly_christianProtected

Religious house – Franciscan friars

SMR MA022-024001-AbbeylandsProtected

Located on the western shores of Killala Bay, close to the mouth of the River Moy. Situated immediately to S of a hill, on a low lying ground which slopes down gently towards the shore 100m to E. Killala is 3km to NW,…

House – 18th century

SMR MA022-024002-Abbeylandspost_medievalProtected

At Moyne Franciscan friary (MA022-024001-). This 18th-century house, oriented roughly NW–SE, is appended to the E domestic range of the 15th-century friary.
The house dates to the secular occupation of the friary…

Hospital

SMR MA022-024005-AbbeylandsProtected

In pasture, located 55m NE of Moyne Franciscan friary (MA022-024001-), towards the base of a steep S-facing slope, 15m N of the E−W stream flowing from the friary into Killala bay to E. The shoreline is 25m to…

Gateway

SMR MA022-024008-AbbeylandsProtected

Designed landscape feature

SMR MA029-041—-ForrewProtected

This feature was listed in the RMP (1997) as a mound based on information received by the SMR from a local source. It is not shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map. It is depicted on the 1922 edition as a roughly oblong…

Architectural fragment

SMR MA029-051003-CrossmolinaProtected

House – 16th/17th century

SMR MA030-019—-RappacastleProtected

Country house

SMR MA030-063—-DeelcastleProtected

In gently rolling pasture, overlooking the Deel River which lies 100m to W. This house, named ‘Castle Gore’ on the 1930 OS 6-inch map, was built c. 1790 on the Deel Castle estate by James Cuff, who became the first…

House – fortified house

SMR MA030-064002-DeelcastleProtected

Ringfort – rath

SMR MA038-004—-Carrowkeel (Tirawley By., Crossmolina. Par.)early_medievalProtected

In undulating pasture, located on rise, overlooking lowlying, damp ground fed by a natural spring which is located 40m to S. There is rising ground to N.
When inspected in1996, this rath consisted of a raised circular…

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 248 listed buildings in Tirawley, the 83rd percentile across ROI baronies for listed-building density. The highest-graded structure include 1 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 Victorian (1830-1900) period. The most-recorded building type is house (61 examples, 25% of the listed stock).

Terrain and environment

Mean elevation across the barony is 81m — the 42nd percentile among 280 ROI baronies for elevation. This means it is in the lower half of all baronies for elevation. 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 802m at its highest point — a vertical span of more than 720m within its boundary, indicating significant topographic diversity. Mean slope is 4.1° — the 61st 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 10.8, the 49th 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 mosaic combines improved grassland (76%), woodland (17%), and open water (5%), giving a mixed agricultural and semi-natural landscape.

Terrain measurements

Mean elevation81.3 m

Max elevation801.9 m

Mean slope4.1°

Wetness index (TWI)10.81 49th pct

Grassland76.1%

Woodland17.1% 59th pct

Wetland1.0% 94th pct

Where this barony sits in the Republic of Ireland

Drainage

49th

Woodland

59th

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 Tirawley is predominantly limestone and shale (33% of the barony by area), laid down during the Carboniferous period (80% by area, around 359 to 299 million years ago). A substantial secondary geology of mudstone and siltstone (28%) adds further variety to the underlying landscape. The single largest mapped unit is the Downpatrick Formation (28% of the barony's bedrock). With 13 distinct rock types mapped, the barony sits in the top third of ROI baronies for geological diversity (96th percentile) — typically a sign of complex tectonic history or coastal mosaics of differing rock units.

Dominant geological periodCarboniferous (80%)

Dominant rock typeLimestone And Shale (33%)

Mapped formations63

Distinct rock types13 96th pct for diversity

Rock type composition

Limestone And Shale

33%

Mudstone And Siltstone

28%

Sandstone And Siltstone

10%

Sandstone

Quartzites

Largest mapped unit: Downpatrick Formation (28% of the barony)

Placename evidence

Logainm records 102 heritage-diagnostic placenames for Tirawley, 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 ráth- (36 — earthen ringfort), cill- (24 — church), and dún- (12 — hilltop fort or promontory fort). This is well above the ROI average of 30.7 heritage placenames per barony — around 3.3× the typical figure. The presence of multiple heritage strata side by side indicates layered occupation of the landscape across successive prehistoric and historic periods. Logainm records 584 placenames for Tirawley (predominantly townland names). Of these, 102 (17%) 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

Root	Count	Meaning
ráth-	36	earthen ringfort
dún-	12	hilltop or promontory fort
lios-	7	ringfort or enclosure
caiseal-	2	stone ringfort

Early Christian Ecclesiastical

Root	Count	Meaning
cill-	24	church (early)
cillín-	6	unconsecrated burial ground
teampall-	2	church (later medieval)
tobar-	2	holy well
gráinseach-	1	monastic farm / grange

Burial, Ritual, and Norse-Contact

Root	Count	Meaning
leacht-	4	grave monument
carn-	3	cairn
dumha-	2	mound
feart-	1	grave mound
gall-	1	foreigner — Norse settlement marker

Other baronies in Mayo

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.