Enclosure, Lisheennacreagh, Co. Cork

Co. Cork |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Lisheennacreagh, Co. Cork

There is something quietly melancholy about an archaeological site whose best-known quality is that nobody can reach it.

At Lisheennacreagh in County Cork, a small enclosure sits sealed away behind dense commercial forestry, known primarily because a nineteenth-century cartographer thought it worth marking on a map.

What the Ordnance Survey recorded in 1842 was a univallate enclosure, meaning a roughly circular area defined by a single bank and ditch, measuring around 22 metres in diameter. These enclosures are common features of the Irish landscape, most often associated with early medieval settlement, though their dates and functions vary considerably. The hachuring on the OS six-inch map, a technique using short radiating lines to indicate raised ground or earthworks, suggests the bank was still visible and legible to the surveyors at that time. At 22 metres across, this is a modest example, more likely the remains of a small farmstead or ancillary enclosure than anything monumental. The place-name Lisheennacreagh is itself suggestive: "lisheen" is a diminutive of "lios", the Irish word for a fort or enclosure, which hints at a long local awareness of the earthwork's presence.

Since the afforestation took hold, the site has become effectively inaccessible, and there is no practical way to inspect the earthwork on the ground. What remains is the cartographic trace, a small hachured circle on a map made over 180 years ago, preserving the outline of something that the trees have since swallowed entirely.

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, Lisheennacreagh, Co. Cork. 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