Enclosure, Cnoc Fola, Co. Donegal

Co. Donegal |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Cnoc Fola, Co. Donegal

Near Bloody Foreland's dramatic coastline in County Donegal lies an intriguing archaeological complex at Cnoc Fola, where numerous defensive and structural features hint at centuries of human activity, though their exact relationships remain tantalisingly unclear.

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 remains of a ruined wall constructed from large boulders, whilst the promontory itself bears traces of what appears to have been a rectangular enclosure measuring 15 metres east to west and 10 metres north to south, possibly the 'Old castle' marked on early Ordnance Survey maps.

The clifftop location preserves the foundations of at least two rectangular stone structures, both partially collapsed where erosion has claimed portions of the cliff edge. The larger measures 7 by 3 metres with a probable entrance to the southeast, whilst its neighbour spans 5 by 2 to 3 metres. These buildings sit within a complex system of stone walls and enclosures that extends across the landscape; arcs of stones cut off V-shaped projections of land both north and south of the main promontory, with the southern arc stretching 20 metres and featuring a slight fosse outside its stone setting.

Further inland, old field walls emerge from beneath the cut turf, revealing a larger rectangular enclosure approximately 100 metres north to south and 110 metres east to west, bounded by stone walls on two sides and cliff edges on the others. Within this sits a smaller enclosure of about 50 by 55 metres, its walls running from near the southeastern corner of one of the stone structures. Located south of Rinardalliff Point in an area of cut-away turf and regenerated land, these features represent a palimpsest of human occupation and land use, their exact chronology and connections awaiting further archaeological investigation to fully unravel their stories.

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