Enclosure, Kilcorney, Co. Clare

Co. Clare |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Kilcorney, Co. Clare

In the townland of Kilcorney, in the north Clare landscape of limestone karst and thin soil, there sits an enclosure that has yet to be formally described in any publicly accessible record.

That gap itself is quietly telling. Ireland holds thousands of such enclosures, ranging from early medieval ringforts, which served as defended farmsteads for a single family or extended household, to later field boundaries and ecclesiastical precincts, and many remain catalogued in name only, their earthworks unexcavated, their histories unwritten.

Kilcorney as a place-name carries its own interest. The Irish root is likely Cill Choirne, suggesting an early church site, possibly associated with a figure named Coirne or Cairne, though the precise dedication is now obscure. North Clare sits within the Burren, a region where the archaeology is unusually dense and unusually visible, the limestone pavement having resisted the kind of agricultural improvement that buried or levelled similar sites elsewhere in the country. Enclosures in this area can range in date from the Iron Age through to the early modern period, and without excavation or detailed survey it is rarely possible to assign one to a particular century with confidence.

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, Kilcorney, Co. Clare. 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