Limerick Ireland

There are not many dolmens in Limerick (Holiday Cottages, Limerick, Ireland), but the series of megalithic monuments at Loch Gur make the prehistoric remains of this county of interest. Loch Gur is a picturesquely situated lake about 3 miles north of Bruff. It appears to have been the centre of a Bronze-Age cemetery. The lake itself was probably sacred, and it is likely that the large number of antiquities that have been found in or near it were deposited as votive offerings. The remains include nine stone circles, a dolmen, an alignment or avenue of stones, and numerous pillar stones. At the east side of the lake is a hill called Knockadoon ; at the northern end of this is a mediaeval castle called Bourchiers Castle, and at the southern another, known as the Black Castle. The district belonged to the Desmonds, and legends connected with this family are still told by the country people. The largest of the stone circles is some 150 feet in diameter and is flanked by an earthen bank. Several of the stones which form it arc of great size, but it was repaired during the last century, and it is unfortunately impossible to say whether all the stones are now in their original position.

Lake Dwellings, or Crannogs, are not so numerous in Munster as in the other provinces, but several are important and have been found to contain antiquities valuable for the study of archaeology. The Crannog of Lough Gur, Co. Limerick (Holiday Apartments, Limerick, Ireland), has yielded a number of objects of various descriptions at different times; unfortunately it has not been scientifically excavated, it is therefore difficult to form any opinion as to when it was first inhabited. The antiquities, stated to have been recovered on various occasions from this site, include a remarkable bronze spear-head with the socket inlaid with gold ; part of a stone mould for casting socketed, and looped, spear-heads; an iron sword of late date ; numerous stone celts, and various objects of bronze.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Antique. Tags: Black Castle, Bourchiers Castle, Bruff, Co. Limerick, Crannogs, Desmonds, Ireland, Knockadoon, Lake Dwellings, Limerick, Loch Gur. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.