Enclosure, Cnoc Fola, Co. Donegal

Co. Donegal |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Cnoc Fola, Co. Donegal

At Cnoc Fola near Bloody Foreland in County Donegal, a complex of defensive earthworks and stone structures overlooks the Atlantic coast.

The site's most prominent feature is a massive fosse, roughly 12 metres wide and 3 metres deep, which cuts across a promontory to separate it from the mainland. Behind this impressive ditch stand the ruins of a boulder wall, whilst on the promontory itself, traces of defensive walls form what appears to be a rectangular enclosure measuring 15 metres east to west and 10 metres north to south. This fortified area may be the 'Old Castle' marked on early Ordnance Survey maps, though the exact relationship between all the features remains unclear.

Just beyond the main defensive walls, two rectangular stone structures cling to the cliff edge, both partially collapsed where erosion has claimed the land. The larger measures 7 by 3 metres with a probable entrance to the southeast, whilst its smaller neighbour spans 5 by 2 to 3 metres. These buildings sit within a broader archaeological landscape that includes two V-shaped projections of land, each defended by curved stone ramparts; the northern arc stretches 15 metres, whilst the southern extends for 20 metres and includes a shallow outer fosse.

The site also preserves evidence of ancient field systems in the form of stone walls, some only recently exposed by turf cutting. One substantial boundary runs roughly 50 metres east before turning northeast and then curving northwest to the cliff edge, enclosing an area approximately 100 by 110 metres. A smaller enclosure lies within this space, defined by another old wall that creates a roughly square area of about 50 to 55 metres per side. Located south of Rinardalliff Point in an area of cutaway bog and regenerated land, these overlapping defensive and agricultural features suggest centuries of occupation and reuse, though without excavation it's impossible to determine which elements are contemporary and which represent different phases of activity at this windswept coastal site.

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