Enclosure, Doonkinane, Co. Kerry

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Enclosures

Enclosure, Doonkinane, Co. Kerry

In a rough pasture on a gentle west-facing slope in Doonkinane, Co. Kerry, a slight depression and a low earthen scarp trace out a shape that is easy to miss entirely.

The sub-oval form, measuring roughly twelve metres from west-northwest to east-southeast and eight metres across, is modest enough that a casual walker might take it for a natural irregularity in the ground. What makes it quietly interesting is precisely that ambiguity: it has been formally noted as a possible enclosure, but nothing about it is settled.

Enclosures of this kind, where a scarp or bank, sometimes accompanied by a fosse (a shallow external ditch), defines a roughly circular or oval area, are a recurring feature of the Irish landscape and can date from anywhere within a broad prehistoric and early medieval span. Here the scarp is around 1.8 metres wide and only 0.2 metres high, and a possible fosse roughly 2.1 metres wide and 0.15 metres deep has been observed at the northwest. The western arc of the boundary is uneven and irregular, and a modern field boundary running northeast to southwest cuts across the feature, as does a deep drain through the northeast sector, both of which have truncated whatever original form it held. Inside, the ground is grass-covered and two low boulders sit in the northwest sector. Vegetation appears to have been cleared across the area at some point, which may be what brought the feature to attention. Notably, no corresponding mark appears at this location on any historic mapping, which means it cannot be traced back through the usual cartographic record and its original purpose remains genuinely open.

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Pete F
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