Enclosure, Aughalin, Co. Limerick

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Enclosures

Enclosure, Aughalin, Co. Limerick

Most earthworks in the Irish countryside announce themselves with at least a suggestion of drama, a sudden mound or a deep hollow that breaks the rhythm of a field.

The enclosure at Aughalin, in County Limerick, does something rather more restrained. It sits on the crest of an east-west ridge in level pasture, barely lifting itself above the surrounding ground, defined by an earthen bank and an outer fosse, or ditch, so shallow that a casual walker might cross both without registering either. What makes it worth closer attention is the thing at its centre: a circular raised area roughly four metres across, its edge formed by a scarped, or deliberately cut, slope just twenty centimetres high. Something was placed there, or built there, or otherwise marked out with intention. What exactly, the record does not say.

The enclosure is rectangular, measuring approximately twenty-four metres north to south and twenty metres east to west. The bank that defines it stands only around ten centimetres above the interior surface and perhaps twenty centimetres above the exterior ground level, while the fosse outside it is a metre wide at its base and roughly twenty centimetres deep. These are modest dimensions, and they suggest either considerable erosion over centuries or an original structure that was never meant to be imposing. A north-south field boundary runs along the western side of the site, skirting the outer edge of the fosse, which means the enclosure has been absorbed into the working agricultural landscape rather than preserved apart from it. The notes were compiled by Denis Power and uploaded to the record in August 2011, though no date of construction or period of use is given.

The interior is described as clear of overgrowth, which means the earthwork's low relief is at least visible rather than buried under scrub. That clarity also makes the central circular feature easier to read on the ground than it might otherwise be. Because the surrounding land is level pasture on a ridge crest, there are no dramatic approaches and no sheltering trees to use as landmarks; finding the site requires either a careful reading of a map or a good eye for very slight changes in ground level. The western field boundary is probably the most reliable guide, since it follows the fosse line directly. Early morning or low winter sun, which throws long shadows across even gentle earthworks, would help considerably in making sense of what is there.

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