Mid-west hopes to exploit golden opportunity

MID-WEST tourism interests are hoping to repeat the good fortune of those who came across the ‘Great Clare Gold Find’ at the Bronze Age Mooghaun ringfort by making it a major tourist attraction.

This follows Obair Newmarket-on-Fergus, in an initiative to boost mid-west tourism, inviting tenders to conduct research on the feasibility of an interpretative centre for the fort. The bronze age ringfort – near Dromoland Castle – is thought to be one of the largest hillforts in Ireland and was built after 1260-930 BC.

Manager of Obair Newmarket-on-Fergus, Pat Cronin said yesterday: “We are very excited and it would be great for the village if an interpretative centre is constructed. Everything depends on the results of the feasibility study.”

The environs of the Mooghaun hillfort was the scene of the ‘Great Clare Gold Find’ in 1854. During the construction of the Ennis-Limerick railway, three labourers came across a large number of gold objects. Limerick and Dublin goldsmiths purchased much of the find and had the objects melted down, but a number of pieces came into the possession of the Irish and British museums.

Systematic excavations of Mooghaun did not begin until 1992.

According to Obair, the core objectives and outcomes of the study are to consider the location for the centre, and complete an environmental impact assessment on the proposed locations.

Obair state the study will also include desktop research relating to the archaeology of the site, with the outcome being the justification of the site’s interpretive significance, also generating the main interpretive theme and a review of the artifact collection relating to the site.

Obair also state the successful candidate will have to carry out market research, drawing up a tourism plan, with the possibility of linking in with other interpretive resources, to create a tourism plan for the area, identifying specific target groups and visitor use patterns, also to consult with groups and organisations that have importance to the project.

Mr Cronin said yesterday the gold find “was one of the major finds of Irish heritage”.

Moonghaun is a trivallate hillfort, meaning it has three circular ramparts all of which are contained within one another. The outer wall encloses 27.18 acres, the middle enclosure contains 7.41 acres and the inner enclosure contains 2.04 acres.

According to a report on the fort “Mooghaun would have required a considerable amount of labour and time to create, however it may not have been used for defensive purposes exclusively, or even at all. Instead many archaeologists, including the excavators of Mooghaun, feel that it played a more extensive role in the ritual or communal life of the inhabitants of this period”.

According to the Discovery Programme research, the sphere of influence of Mooghaun increased during the late Bronze Age and became a regional centre surrounded by associated sites.