Enclosure, Carrickevy, Co. Leitrim

Co. Leitrim |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Carrickevy, Co. Leitrim

In a level field in County Leitrim, roughly two hundred metres south-east of Carrickevy Lough, a faint circular bank traces the outline of an enclosure that most people walking past would not notice at all.

Measuring an estimated twenty-seven metres in diameter, it survives as a low, grass-covered rise along its north-north-west to north-north-east arc, while the rest of its circuit shows only as a cropmark, the kind of subtle variation in vegetation colour and growth that becomes legible from above but is essentially invisible at ground level. Enclosures of this type, broadly circular earthworks defined by a bank and sometimes a ditch, are among the most common archaeological monuments in Ireland, and are generally associated with early medieval settlement, though their precise date and function can rarely be confirmed without excavation.

What makes this particular site quietly notable is its company. Two further enclosures lie within a short distance to the west, one approximately a hundred and fifty metres away, another just beyond that. The clustering of three such monuments in close proximity along the same stretch of pasture suggests that this corner of Leitrim was a focus of organised human activity at some point, though when and in what form remains unresolved. The site was reported by Jean-Charles Caillere and its cropmark signature was identified from aerial imagery captured in October 2018, meaning its existence in the archaeological record is relatively recent.

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Pete F
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