Oughterard

cfuserkildare

Hi,

Is there any evidence of the village of Oughterard, Newcastle

As in was there any surveying carried out.

Last I heard, the location of the village had been lost.

Google maps however may show otherwise.

Have a look and have a think.

Cheers.

DeepSleeper

Just to clarify, the OP is referring to Oughterard, Co Kildare and not Oughterard, Co Galway (which has not been lost - I was there yesterday...)

cfuserkildare

DeepSleeper wrote: »

Just to clarify, the OP is referring to Oughterard, Co Kildare and not Oughterard, Co Galway (which has not been lost - I was there yesterday...)

HaHa,

Yeh, my bad, I should have stated that.
Hope the 1 in Galway is still there after the heavy winds tonight.

Any way, as DeepSleeper pointed out I am refering to the Oughterard in Newcastle, County Dublin.

Cheers Dude.

cfuserkildare

Surely someone knows about this place, I think I had a post about it before but after some hunting recently I may have located the site of the original village, however I do need some sort of confirmation just in case it turns out that I am wasting my time.

Cheers.

baaba maal

I can't confirm the village but I am interested as I had never heard of it before (and use to live a couple of miles from it). I googled it but no joy- have you any links in relation to it?
I presume you are referring to the disturbed ground to the southwest of the the current boundary wall?
A really terrific site, and beutifully set on the shoulder of Lyons Hill.

cfuserkildare

Hi baaba maal,

yeh, the whole area surrounding the church looks kinda suspicious.
If yeh look at what seems to be a boundary all the way around the it in a large figure of eight, the SW end is terraced in 3 or 4 steps.

Also did a little research a while ago and was surprised to find that this was 1 of the largest parishes in Ireland during the 12th and 13th centuries, if this is true, where were all those people buried?

When you are standing on the southern wall of the church and look towards the nearest house, see the undulations in the treed field.
Look like possible foundations to me but am open to other explanations.

Cheers.

baaba maal

Hi cfuserkildare

I often did wonder about all of the "disturbance". It really is an interesting place. I was lucky enough to see the lidar of Lyons Hill and further east- the whole area is stuffed with layers of history not visible even in the regular aerial stuff, and it is easy to imagine that Oughterard is no different.

Ps- pity that the bing map is an earlier poor resolution version- must keep a n eye on it as they do seem to update them.....

cfuserkildare

Hi baaba maal,

The biggest mystery that caught a hold of my attention was, If they were such a large parish 600-700 years ago, how come the cemetery is so small?
I also think that it must extend South west and North East along the brow of the hill.

Neutronale

cfuserkildare wrote: »

Hi baaba maal,

The biggest mystery that caught a hold of my attention was, If they were such a large parish 600-700 years ago, how come the cemetery is so small?
I also think that it must extend South west and North East along the brow of the hill.

One possibility is that there are other forgotten graveyards.

Another possibility is that when graves became uncared for and forgotten, the remains were unceremoniously chucked into a ditch and the grave reused.

Neutronale

cfuserkildare wrote: »

Hi,

Is there any evidence of the village of Oughterard, Newcastle

As in was there any surveying carried out.

Last I heard, the location of the village had been lost.

Google maps however may show otherwise.

Have a look and have a think.

Cheers.

From the google map I can see eight or more small circles consistent with the dimensions of raths/defended farmsteads of the iron-age. They may only be clear from the air as many of these sites become ploughed out over the centuries.

Then again they may be just modern farm works of some sort

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&ll=53.291649,-6.484466&spn=0.003636,0.010568&t=h&z=17

Simon.d

Neutronale wrote: »

From the google map I can see eight or more small circles consistent with the dimensions of raths/defended farmsteads of the iron-age. They may only be clear from the air as many of these sites become ploughed out over the centuries.

Then again they may be just modern farm works of some sort

They're modern I'm thinking.. My guess is it's the marks of tractor wheels scooting around a line of electricity poles..

cfuserkildare

Hey Neutronale,

Thats Newcastle Cemetery you have there,

I am referring to Oughterard church and cemetery which are on the other side of Newcastle and up in the hills.

They are right beside the Old Dublin - Limerick road, theres a castle and everything.

Co-ordinates as follows.

53.277352,-6.564867