Enclosure, Drangan More, Co. Tipperary

Co. Tipperary |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Drangan More, Co. Tipperary

A low earthen bank curving through pasture in County Tipperary carries more administrative weight than its modest dimensions might suggest.

The enclosure at Drangan More sits on a flat hillock, the land falling away to the east and west, and describes an oval roughly 48 metres north to south and 55 metres east to west. What makes it quietly odd is that the local townland boundary follows the curve of the bank from the north-west around through north and east to south, a strong sign that whoever drew those administrative lines, probably centuries ago, recognised the enclosure as a meaningful boundary in its own right and simply deferred to it.

Enclosures of this kind, roughly circular earthworks defined by a raised bank and sometimes a ditch, are among the most common archaeological features in the Irish landscape. They are generally associated with the early medieval period, functioning variously as enclosed farmsteads, livestock pounds, or sites of local social or ritual significance. The Drangan More example retains its earthen field bank on most of its circuit, measuring roughly 85 centimetres wide and standing between 95 centimetres on the interior face and a slightly taller 1.25 metres on the exterior. A hedgerow reinforces the line in most places, though the western quadrant has been removed entirely. The interior of the enclosure slopes gently southward. In the field immediately to the north, aerial photography has revealed a circular cropmark, a feature that shows up when differential crop growth betrays buried structures beneath the soil, suggesting that whatever activity shaped this part of the townland extended beyond the visible earthwork itself.

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