Enclosure, Garrafine, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Garrafine, Co. Galway

In a field on level ground near Garrafine in County Galway, something large and old has been slowly disappearing, cut in two by a boundary wall and clipped at one end by a road.

What remains is still considerable: an enclosure measuring roughly 89 metres north to south and more than 50 metres east to west, defined by a sequence of earthworks that would once have made it a formidable presence in the landscape.

The monument belongs to a class of enclosure defined by an inner bank, an intervening fosse, and an outer bank. The fosse, the wide ditch between the banks, here has a flat bottom and survives in good condition along its northern and south-southeastern arc. A fosse of this kind was not simply defensive; enclosures of this type in Ireland range in date and function from early medieval settlement enclosures to later ceremonial or territorial boundaries, and without excavation it is difficult to assign this one with any certainty to a particular period or use. The irregular shape is notable, as many comparable earthworks tend toward the circular or subcircular. A townland boundary wall, running roughly north to south-southeast across the site, has divided it, and to the east of that wall almost nothing is now visible at the surface. On the western side, a low inner bank and a scarp still hold their form. At the southern end, a stretch of outer bank about 15 metres long remains before the road truncates it.

The monument is partly obscured by its own fragmentation, the boundary wall on one side and the road on the other having done their quiet work over the decades. The western portion, where the earthworks are best preserved, offers the clearest sense of the original scale, particularly the intact fosse, which retains enough depth to make the effort of enclosing this ground feel deliberate and substantial.

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, Garrafine, Co. Galway. 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