Enclosure, Money, Co. Wicklow
Co. Wicklow |
Enclosures
In the planted woodland of the townland of Money in County Wicklow, roughly half of a circular earthwork survives, quietly doing its best impression of a field boundary.
That ambiguity is part of what makes the site interesting. The north-eastern arc of the enclosure, about thirty metres across when complete, is defined by an earth and stone bank two metres wide and standing to 1.2 metres in height, with a near-vertical dry-stone face on its inner side. The south-eastern perimeter has faded to mere vestiges. No external fosse (a defensive ditch running outside the bank), no identifiable entrance, and no internal features have been recorded.
Enclosures of this broadly circular type are scattered across Ireland and represent one of the more common, if poorly understood, categories of field monument. They may be early medieval in origin, associated with settlement, agriculture, or stock management, though without excavation or datable finds it is rarely possible to say with any certainty what a given example was for or when it was built. What gives this particular site an added layer of interest is a bank that extends southward from the enclosure, curves south-westward, and then turns north-west. This secondary feature may represent an annexe or an associated enclosure, suggesting the site was once part of a more complex arrangement of enclosed space than the surviving half-circle alone would imply.
The site sits on a gentle north-east-facing slope within a plantation, which means visibility and access will depend on the density of tree cover at any given time. The surrounding woodland can obscure earthworks that are genuinely legible once you are standing among them, so patience and a good eye for subtle changes in ground level are useful. The curving bank to the south is worth seeking out separately, as it hints at a broader landscape of enclosure that the main surviving arc cannot convey on its own.