Bunratty
village in Munster, Ireland
Bunratty (Irish: Bun Raite, meaning "mouth of the Raite") is a village in County Clare, Ireland, near Bunratty Castle. It is connected by the N18 road to Limerick and Galway. The Raite river defines the parish's eastern boundary and flows into the Shannon Estuary, which defines the southern boundary.
History
The first settlement in Bunratty may have been set up by Vikings in the 10th century. The Annals of the Four Masters report that Brian Boru destroyed a Viking settlement in the area in 977.
Around 1250 the Anglo-Norman ruler Mucegros was given the right to hold a market and fair at Bunratty.
He built the castle in 1277. The castle became the main residence of Richard de Clare, owner of all of Thomond.
In the late 13th century, Bunratty had about 1,000 inhabitants.
Richard de Clare was killed in 1311, and in 1314 the town of Bunratty was burned to the ground by the local people.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bunratty” is village in Munster, Ireland. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bunratty, village and Munster, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “village in Munster, Ireland” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 18, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4997899. Authority coordinates are 52.700, -8.817. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1250, 1277, 1311 and 1314.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bunratty”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bunratty primary sources, Bunratty archive and Bunratty research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bunratty”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bunratty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.