Enclosure, Clareen, Co. Tipperary

Co. Tipperary |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Clareen, Co. Tipperary

At 160 metres across at its longest point, the enclosure at Clareen is considerably larger than the typical Irish ringfort, and that scale alone gives it a quiet strangeness.

It sits on flat grassland with open views in every direction, its earth and stone bank still well preserved, the flat top measuring 3.5 metres wide and the outer fosse, a defensive ditch running around the outside, still clearly legible in the ground. A single entrance gap, just over four metres wide, opens to the south. On the western side, where a small stream runs close by, the bank has been worn down to a low scarp, but the rest of the circuit remains largely intact.

The enclosure's history is not straightforward. What stands today as a large circular form may have begun life as a D-shaped enclosure, roughly 85 metres north to south and 110 metres east to west, with a straight northern edge about 80 metres long. At some point, a triangular field boundary was added to that northern side, effectively extending and reshaping the whole. By the time the Ordnance Survey recorded it on the six-inch map, the monument appeared as a D-shape with an annexe to the north, but the internal bank separating the two had already been levelled. Those later northern boundaries may be connected to a house that once stood against that side of the enclosure, and they are likely 19th-century additions rather than ancient ones. What complicates any reading of the site is that all three phases, the original enclosure, the added field system, and the modifications in between, are now layered into a single form on the ground. Two other monuments sit within easy distance: another enclosure lies roughly 450 metres to the north-east, and a ringfort about 840 metres in the same direction, suggesting this was once a well-occupied stretch of Tipperary landscape.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Enclosure, Clareen, Co. Tipperary. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement