Enclosure, Glantrasna, Co. Kerry

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Enclosures

Enclosure, Glantrasna, Co. Kerry

On the southern slope of Coomnadiha Mountain in County Kerry, a small circular enclosure sits quietly in a hollow of rough hill pasture, its drystone walls still holding their shape after what may be centuries of exposure to the upland weather.

The structure is modest in scale, roughly 4.2 metres in diameter, with a wall that tapers as it rises, running from about 0.6 metres thick at the base to 0.3 metres at the top, and reaching a surviving height of around one metre. Large boulders have been deliberately placed at the four cardinal diagonal points, northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest, suggesting some care in construction rather than simple expedience. The upper courses have long since collapsed and the rubble lies scattered around the perimeter, which gives the enclosure a slightly sunken, wreath-like appearance when seen from above.

Drystone enclosures of this kind are found across upland Kerry and the broader Irish landscape, and their purposes varied considerably. Some served as animal pens, others as small dwelling spaces or shelters, and a number are associated with seasonal pastoral activity, the practice of moving livestock to higher ground in summer, known in Ireland as booleying. What lends this particular site a quiet additional interest is the presence of a hut site just 25 metres to the north, suggesting that whoever used or built the enclosure was not entirely alone on this ridge. The two structures together hint at a small functional cluster on the mountainside, people and animals sharing a patch of high ground for reasons that the archaeology does not quite spell out.

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Pete F
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