Enclosure, Knockeens, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Enclosures
On the south-east-facing slope of Mangertonbeg Mountain in County Kerry, a small D-shaped outline sits quietly in the heather, its walls long since fallen but its footprint still legible in the landscape.
The structure measures roughly 8.4 metres across on its longest axis, with a notably straight north-west side running about 6 metres, giving it that flat-backed D shape that distinguishes it from the more common circular enclosures found across Kerry's uplands. The collapsed drystone wall, built without mortar in the ancient tradition of fitting stone against stone, still stands to around 0.7 metres in places, and loose stones scattered across the interior and spilling downslope suggest the wall was once more substantial. A possible entrance opens to the east.
Enclosures of this kind are among the more enigmatic categories of field monument in Ireland. The term covers a wide range of structures, from farming enclosures used to manage livestock, to enclosed homestead sites associated with early medieval settlement, and distinguishing between them without excavation is rarely straightforward. What can be said is that drystone enclosures on hill pasture in Kerry often reflect patterns of land use that predate the modern field systems by many centuries, and the south-west of the county is particularly dense with such survivals. The interior of this one slopes down to the south, which would have made it practical for drainage, a detail that hints at deliberate siting rather than accidental accumulation of stone.