Enclosure, Kilmartin, Co. Dublin
Co. Dublin |
Enclosures
Somewhere beneath a tilled field close to the Pinkeen River in County Dublin lies a circular enclosure that has never been seen at ground level, at least not in any living memory.
What we know of it comes from a single aerial photograph taken in 1968, catalogued in the Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography as CUCAP AVR 58. In that image, the enclosure reveals itself as a cropmark, the kind of faint but legible trace that appears when buried features influence how crops grow above them, producing subtle differences in colour and height that become readable only from the air.
Cropmarks of this kind are typically caused by the remains of ditches or banks lying just below the plough layer. Where a ditch was cut and later filled, the soil retains more moisture and the crops above grow taller and greener; where a bank once stood, compacted or stony ground tends to stunt growth. The 1968 photograph captures a roughly circular enclosure approximately 35 metres in diameter, with what appears to be an entrance gap on the south-eastern side. Circular enclosures of broadly this form and scale are associated with a wide span of Irish prehistory and early medieval settlement, though without excavation it is not possible to say more about the date or function of this particular example. The record was compiled by Geraldine Stout and updated by Christine Baker.
For anyone curious enough to visit the general area, the enclosure sits in agricultural land near the Pinkeen River and is not accessible or visible on foot. There is nothing to see from the field boundary, and the cropmark itself would only be legible under the right conditions, dry spells following wet weather in a cereal crop being the classic circumstance. The feature was still discernible on satellite imagery via Bing Maps as recently as January 2015, so those with an interest in reading landscapes digitally may find that a more rewarding approach than any visit in person. It is the kind of site that rewards patience and the right season, but offers nothing to the casual passer-by.