Enclosure, Clashduff, Co. Kilkenny

Co. Kilkenny |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Clashduff, Co. Kilkenny

Between two river valleys in County Kilkenny, a low ring of earth sits just below a ridge, and it has been shaped, at some point, to look like something it is not.

The enclosure at Clashduff is oval on the inside, measuring roughly 17 metres across in each direction, but its outer face has been deliberately trimmed back to present a circular profile to anyone approaching from outside. It is a subtle distinction, and easy to miss, but it suggests a degree of intentional shaping that goes beyond simple field clearance.

The earthen bank that defines the enclosure is wide at its base, around 5 metres, and rises between one and two metres depending on whether you are measuring from inside or out. Earthen enclosures of this kind are a familiar feature of the Irish countryside, and are generally thought to date from the early medieval period, though many remain undated without excavation. They served various purposes, from settlement to agricultural use, and the term enclosure covers a broad range of forms. What makes Clashduff worth a second look is that detail of the truncated exterior, which gives the structure a deliberately tidied outer edge while the interior retains its original oval geometry. There is an original entrance in the south-east sector, and a modern opening has been added to the south-west, the kind of practical alteration that happens when a site passes into use as ordinary farmland and the old boundaries become inconvenient.

The site lies in rolling pasture just below the crest of a ridge between the Deen and Gloshia river valleys, a position that would have offered reasonable views across both drainages. That positioning, neither at the summit nor on the valley floor, is itself fairly typical of early enclosures in Ireland, which tend to occupy sheltered but elevated ground.

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