Tulla Lower Heritage Profile - Daniel Kirkpatrick

By Daniel Kirkpatrick | Compiled 2026-05-13 | Logainm 26

424 NMS sites 417 within protection zone 30 listed buildings 8 of 9 archaeological periods

Tulla Lower is a barony of County Clare, in the historical province of Munster (Irish: An Tulach Íochtarach), covering 317 km² of land. The barony records 424 NMS archaeological sites and 30 NIAH listed buildings, placing it at around the 25th 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 47th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for chronological depth. This means it is in the lower half of all baronies for chronological depth. The largest dated subset of recorded sites dates to the Iron Age. Logainm flags 41 placenames in the barony as carrying a recognised heritage root; the largest share — around 73% — are names associated with early Christian church and monastic foundations.

Tulla Lower boundary detail

Tulla Lower in regional context

Heritage at a glance

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

424

Recorded NMS sites

25th percentile

417

Within protection zone

98.3% of recorded sites

NIAH listed buildings

13th percentile

317 km²

Barony area

The recorded heritage of Tulla Lower

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 424 archaeological sites in Tulla Lower, putting it at the 25th 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 — 417 sites (98%) fall within a recorded monument protection zone, indicating an extensively surveyed landscape. The dominant category is defensive sites — ringforts, enclosures, hillforts, and stone forts (249 sites, 59% of the record). The most diagnostically specific type is Ringfort – rath (21 records, 5% of the barony's NMS total) — compared to an 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. The broader 'Enclosure' classification — which catches unclassified ringforts and field enclosures — accounts for a further 176 records (42%) and reflects the difficulty of sub-classifying degraded earthworks from surface evidence alone. Across the barony's 317 km², this gives a recorded density of 1.34 sites per km².

Most common monument types

Hover or tap a monument type to see its definition.

Type	Count
Enclosure	176
Ringfort – rath	21
Ritual site – holy well	18
Earthwork	17
Standing stone	14
Church	13
Children's burial ground	12

Chronological distribution

The dated archaeological record for Tulla Lower 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 Iron Age (186 sites, 56% of dated material), with the Early Medieval forming a secondary peak (72 sites, 22%). A further 92 recorded sites (22% 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

Middle Late Bronze Age

Iron Age

186

Early Medieval

Medieval

Post Medieval

Modern

Unknown

Sample of recorded monuments

Show 25 sample monuments (of 424 total)

A representative sample of 25 recorded monuments drawn from the barony’s 424 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.

House – early medieval

SMR CL037-021002-CragleaProtected

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…

Enclosure – large enclosure

SMR CL043-058001-Enagh EastProtected

Ceremonial enclosure

SMR CL043-061001-GortadromaProtected

Cairn – unclassified

SMR CL044-065—-Lackareagh Begbronze_ageProtected

Hillfort

SMR CL044-085—-Cloonyconry More,Formoyle Begiron_ageProtected

Mass-house

SMR CL045-012001-GarraunboyProtected

Historic town

SMR CL045-033—-Knockyclovaun,ShantraudProtected

Cross

SMR CL045-050—-MoysProtected

Sheela-na-gig (present location)

SMR CL053-038—-CloonlaraProtected

This stone is set into the parapet of a bridge across the Limerick to Killaloe Navigation Canal at Cloonlara. The figure is said to have come from Newtown Castle (CL053-043001-) and to have been defaced by the…

House – 18th/19th century

SMR CL053-051—-Roo WestProtected

The building recorded as ‘Trough Castle (in Ruins)’ on the OS 6-inch map (1939) was built in the 19th century by a member of the O’Donnell family. It takes its name from the castle of that name, the ruin of which lies…

Field boundary

SMR CL035-151—-Fox And GeeseProtected

On low-lying ground, in very uneven and undulating pasture. There are ridges and rises of natural limestone rock outcrop evident across this field and that to W. Depicted on the 25-inch OS map as rock outcrop. A series…

Souterrain

SMR CL029-023002-Ballyhurlyearly_medievalProtected

Cathedral

SMR CL045-033006-ShantraudmedievalProtected

Cross – High cross (present location)

SMR CL045-033009-ShantraudProtected

Erected in the nave of Killaloe cathedral (CL045-033002-). This high cross (H 4.2m; Wth across arms just over 1m) was, according to Swinfen (1992, 43), originally located in the same field as the West cross…

Font

SMR CL045-033011-ShantraudProtected

Memorial stone

SMR CL045-033012-ShantraudProtected

Sheela-na-gig

SMR CL045-033014-ShantraudmedievalProtected

This sheela-na-gig is set in the side-wall of St Flannan's Well (CL045-033013-). It is described by Freitag (2004, 134) as a figure ‘carved on a slab with the head cut off. The arms are splayed out with the hands…

Church (present location)

SMR CL045-033015-ShantraudProtected

Originally located on Friar's Island, Co. Tipperary, on the River Shannon (TN025-022001-) until its removal and re-erection in the grounds of Killaloe RC church in 1929. St. Molua's oratory (built around the 10th/11th…

Burial

SMR CL043-120002-Killanena (Tulla Lower By.)Protected

House – indeterminate date

SMR CL045-031002-BallyvallyProtected

Situated in the W portion of the interior of a ringfort (CL045-031—-), 6m from the bank and aligned E-W. This rectangular house (4m x 2.5m) was revealed during excavation (O’Kelly 1962, 6-7) and was constructed of…

Castle – ringwork

SMR CL045-031003-BallyvallyProtected

Situated on a steep-sided spur of gravel on the County Clare bank of the River Shannon in a strategic location where Lough Derg narrows into the river c. 1.3km N of Killaloe town. Known as ‘Brian Boru’s Fort’ or ‘Beal…

Weir – fish

SMR CL045-033019-River ShannonProtected

Described in the Civil Survey (1654-6) as 'belongeth to the said lands of Beallanaha fowerteene Iile weares upon the River Shannon as alsoe free piscarry upon the sd. river' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 163). No visible…

Excavation – miscellaneous

SMR CL029-025001-BallyhurlyProtected

Furnace

SMR CL029-058—-Bealkelly (Eyre)Protected

Enclosure

SMR CL029-028—-BallyhurlyProtected

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 30 listed buildings in Tulla Lower, the 13th percentile across ROI baronies — a relatively thin architectural record. The highest-graded structures include 2 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 church/chapel (10 examples, 33% of the listed stock).

Terrain and environment

Mean elevation across the barony is 113m — the 68th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for elevation. This means it is in the top third 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 530m at its highest point — a vertical span of more than 417m within its boundary, indicating significant topographic diversity. Mean slope is 6.0° — the 83rd percentile among 280 ROI baronies for slope. This means it is in the top fifth of all baronies for slope. This is consistently steep terrain by ROI standards, the kind of landscape that tends to preserve upstanding archaeological features well. 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. Localised maximum slopes reach 17°, typical of stream-cut valleys, escarpments, or coastal bluffs within the wider landscape. The Topographic Wetness Index averages 9.9, the 20th percentile among 280 ROI baronies for wetness. This means it is in the bottom third of all baronies for wetness. This is well-drained ground by ROI standards — typical of upland or steeply-sloping country that sheds water rapidly. 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 (60%), woodland (33%), and open water (7%), giving a mixed agricultural and semi-natural landscape. In overall character, this is steeply-sloping terrain at modest elevation, with land use dominated by improved grassland.

Terrain measurements

Mean elevation113 m

Max elevation530 m

Mean slope6°

Wetness index (TWI)9.91 20th pct

Grassland59.7%

Woodland32.7% 97th pct

Where this barony sits in the Republic of Ireland

Drainage

20th

Woodland

97th

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 Tulla Lower is predominantly red clastics (31% of the barony by area), with much of the rock dating to the Silurian period. A substantial secondary geology of limestone (21%) and mudstone, arenaceous horizons (16%) adds further variety to the underlying landscape. The single largest mapped unit is the Old Red Sandstone (31% of the barony's bedrock). With 8 distinct rock types mapped, the barony sits in the top third of ROI baronies for geological diversity (76th percentile) — typically a sign of complex tectonic history or coastal mosaics of differing rock units.

Dominant geological periodSilurian (40%)

Dominant rock typeRed Clastics (31%)

Mapped formations22

Distinct rock types8 76th pct for diversity

Rock type composition

Red Clastics

31%

Limestone

21%

Mudstone, Arenaceous Horizons

17%

Greywacke

15%

Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale

Largest mapped unit: Old Red Sandstone (31% of the barony)

Placename evidence

Logainm records 41 heritage-diagnostic placenames for Tulla Lower, drawn from townland and civil-parish names across the barony. The dominant stratum is Early Christian ecclesiastical — cill-, teampall-, and domhnach-prefixed names that record the dense network of early church foundations established between the fifth and tenth centuries. The leading diagnostic roots are cill- (28 — church), dún- (4 — hilltop fort or promontory fort), and lios- (3 — ringfort or enclosure). This is above 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 236 placenames for Tulla Lower (predominantly townland names). Of these, 41 (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
dún-	4	hilltop or promontory fort
lios-	3	ringfort or enclosure
ráth-	2	earthen ringfort
caiseal-	2	stone ringfort

Early Christian Ecclesiastical

Root	Count	Meaning
cill-	28	church (early)
domhnach-	1	pre-Patrician or earliest Patrician church
cillín-	1	unconsecrated burial ground

Burial, Ritual, and Norse-Contact

Root	Count	Meaning
gall-	1	foreigner — Norse settlement marker

Other baronies in Clare

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.