Barrow (Ring Barrow), Dromlusk, Co. Kerry

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Barrow (Ring Barrow), Dromlusk, Co. Kerry

Most prehistoric burial mounds are entered, if at all, through a single gap or not at all.

The ring-barrow at Dromlusk is different: it has two opposed entrances, one facing east and one facing west, giving it a deliberate axial quality that suggests something more considered than simple interment. A ring-barrow is a burial monument of the Bronze Age or Iron Age, typically consisting of a low central platform enclosed by a circular ditch, known as a fosse, and an outer earthen bank. At Dromlusk, this arrangement survives in unusually good condition on the crest of a low ridge running parallel to the River Blackwater in south Kerry.

The monument's dimensions are precise enough to give a clear sense of its presence on the ground. The interior platform measures roughly 7.5 metres across, while the overall diameter of the site, taking in the fosse and bank, averages 15 metres. The fosse is about 1.1 metres wide and averages 0.7 metres deep; the bank beyond it rises to around 0.8 metres on the outside and varies between 1.2 and 2.5 metres in width. The eastern entrance, 2.15 metres wide, is still flanked by upright stone slabs set on edge, giving it a formally defined threshold. At the western entrance, two large slabs now lie flat along the southern edge of the causeway; they may once have stood upright in a matching arrangement. Both causeways are well-defined and each runs to about 2 metres in width. Around 100 metres to the north, a standing stone occupies the same general landscape, and to the east, in the bog, lie a number of fionnán enclosures, the term used in Irish for enclosures made from the coarse grass of the same name, which here appear to be relatively modern agricultural features rather than prehistoric ones. The proximity of the standing stone is unlikely to be coincidental, and the ridge setting, with its long sight-lines along the river valley, points to a community that chose this location with care.

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