Enclosure, Derrymaclavlode, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Derrymaclavlode, Co. Kerry

On a south-facing slope of rough hill pasture above the Clydagh River valley in County Kerry, a small D-shaped enclosure sits quietly in the landscape, its purpose unrecorded and its age unspecified.

That ambiguity is part of what makes it worth knowing about. Not every old structure in Ireland comes with a clear label, and this one, modest in scale and rough in construction, raises more questions than the surviving evidence can answer.

The enclosure measures 8.7 metres north to south and is defined by a drystone wall, a technique using stones stacked without mortar, which here is roughly built and noticeably tapered: 0.6 metres thick at the base, narrowing to 0.3 metres at the top. The southern side runs straight for 9 metres, giving the whole a flat-bottomed D-shape when viewed from above. The wall stands to about 1.3 metres in height. Two large stones have been deliberately incorporated into the structure, one at the north-east and one at the east, which may hint at an older use of the site, or simply at builders working with what the hillside offered. Along the northern arc, the interior has been cut into the rising slope, levelling the ground within. Rubble scattered downslope to the south suggests some degree of collapse or disturbance over time. Whether the enclosure was ever a small farmstead, an animal pen, or something else entirely is not established.

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Pete F
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