Enclosure, An Carn Mór Thiar, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Enclosures
Beneath an ordinary field of grass near An Carn Mór Thiar in County Galway lies a structure that has entirely vanished from view, yet remains recorded as a distinct archaeological monument.
What was once classified as a rectangular earthen fort, defined by a raised bank and a fosse (a defensive ditch running alongside it), now leaves no trace on the surface whatsoever. The ground gives nothing away.
When McCaffrey catalogued the site in 1952, it was identifiable as a roughly rectangular enclosure measuring approximately 33 metres east to west and 26 metres north to south, with a narrow entrance gap of about 2 metres at its southern side. Earthen enclosures of this type were common features of the early medieval Irish landscape, often serving as farmstead boundaries or enclosed settlements, though the precise date and function of this particular example are unrecorded. The combination of bank and fosse suggests it was a deliberate and reasonably substantial construction in its time. Since McCaffrey's survey, the earthworks have been lost entirely, absorbed back into the agricultural grassland that now covers the area.