Enclosure, Kilcurrane, Co. Kerry

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Enclosures

Enclosure, Kilcurrane, Co. Kerry

On a south-facing slope in Kilcurrane, Co. Kerry, a small oval enclosure sits in rough pasture, its collapsed drystone wall still tracing a shape that is clearly deliberate.

Measuring roughly nine metres east to west and six metres north to south, it is modest in scale, the kind of feature that could easily be mistaken for a field boundary or a tumbled animal pen. What sets it apart is the care still visible in its construction, and the questions that care raises.

Drystone enclosures of this type, built without mortar and relying entirely on the careful placement of stone, appear throughout Kerry and the wider Irish landscape. They tend to be associated with early medieval settlement and landholding, though many are difficult to date precisely without excavation. At Kilcurrane, the wall survives to a height of around 1.1 metres along its north-western arc, where it is best preserved. Large foundation stones are visible at the base, and upright stones have been incorporated into the fabric of the wall at the west, north-west, and north. Along the southern arc, the wall shows signs of having been rebuilt at some point, with stones set radially into it rather than in the original coursed manner. This distinction matters: it suggests the enclosure was used, maintained, and modified over time, rather than simply raised and then abandoned. Loose stones scattered across the interior around the base of the wall are likely the result of later collapse or disturbance.

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Pete F
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