Enclosure, Killowen, Co. Cork
Co. Cork |
Enclosures
At Killowen in County Cork, an entire circular enclosure lies invisible at ground level, detectable only from the air.
A crop mark, the kind of faint discolouration that appears in fields during dry summers when buried ditches or banks cause overlying crops to grow differently, outlines a roughly circular form about 45 metres across. No upstanding earthwork remains; the only record of its shape comes from aerial photography.
The enclosure is described as univallate, meaning it was defined by a single bank or ditch rather than the multiple concentric rings found at more elaborate sites. Circular enclosures of this general type are among the most common archaeological features in the Irish landscape, and most are associated with early medieval settlement, though without excavation it is difficult to say anything more precise about the date or function of this particular example. The photographic reference that first captured it, catalogued through aerial survey, is the sole evidence for its existence.