18th or 19th C stone arrangement in landed estate

deaglan1

Could anyone tell me what was the function of this arrangement of standing stones? They are in a field in the old Tiaquin estate in east Galway.
Thanks in advance
Deaglan1

https://www.screencast.com/t/G27MTPeL7

Markcheese

deaglan1 wrote: »

Could anyone tell me what was the function of this arrangement of standing stones? They are in a field in the old Tiaquin estate in east Galway.
Thanks in advance
Deaglan1

https://www.screencast.com/t/G27MTPeL7

A bit hard to see, are they in a circle? They could be part of a grain store or grain bin,
Wood planks would be placed on top, and sheaves of corn piled on, usually in circle, while waiting to be threshed or straw rope would be used for round walls and straw roof to store the grain
https://images.app.goo.gl/AVqZxyM4yutEpgDe6

Peregrinus

Markcheese has it, I think. They're the remains of staddle stones. There would have been a simple wooden structure on top of them in which crops of some kind would have been stored, at least temporarily. The purpose was to prevent the crops being damaged by ground damp, and to provide some protection against vermin. Occasionally they were used for game larders.

They're not common in Ireland; more common in England. It's the kind of thing that might have been introduced by an "improving" landlord or land agent.

breakemall

These are in the Bunratty Castle Folk Park and seem to match the OP's photo?.

deaglan1

Thank you all. Yes, they are in a circle. Your descriptions and images would seem to explain their function - if they are rare in Ireland, was there some alternative means of keeping grain, etc off the ground, even if only required temporarily? Also, would a single set of these staddle stones be sufficient for drying/storage etc for the large amount of estate produce? - they do not cover a particularly large surface area.

pedroeibar1

They are very common in NW Spain and called a 'horreo'. They've been used there for about 1000 years.