That a prehistoric enclosure also sits within this valley, tucked into the limestone karst of the Burren in County Clare, is a quieter and less celebrated fact.

An enclosure, in the archaeological sense, is simply a defined area bounded by a bank, wall, ditch, or some combination of these, and such features can serve many purposes, from settlement and agriculture to ritual use. The Burren is unusually dense with prehistoric and early medieval remains, its thin soils and exposed rock having discouraged the intensive farming that elsewhere in Ireland buried or destroyed ancient earthworks. Gleninsheen itself sits within this landscape of grey limestone pavements, hazel scrub, and seasonal wildflowers, a valley that has clearly drawn human activity across several millennia.