Enclosure, Coolattin, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Coolattin, Co. Wicklow

At Coolattin in County Wicklow, a circular earthwork sits quietly in the landscape, its outline measuring roughly 31 metres across.

It is the kind of feature that registers faintly on a map before fading from notice entirely, yet the cartographic record hints at something that was once more visible, and perhaps more numerous, than anything surviving today.

When the first edition six-inch Ordnance Survey map was produced in 1838, the enclosure was drawn in the style of a rath, the term used for a roughly circular earthen bank and ditch enclosing a farmstead, typically from the early medieval period in Ireland. Raths are among the most common field monuments in the country, yet individual examples vary considerably in their preservation and legibility. Accompanying OS Name Books from 1838 to 1840 record not one but three such features in the townland, described as "3 small Forts or Raths in the Tld.", suggesting a cluster of related enclosures that once marked out this patch of Wicklow as a place of some agricultural or social significance. By the time the second edition maps were published in 1907, the site appears as a plain circular area outlined by a solid line, the earlier interpretive conventions stripped away, the earthwork reduced to geometry on paper.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Enclosure, Coolattin, Co. Wicklow. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement