Enclosure, Rathcool By.), Co. Cork

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Enclosures

Enclosure, Rathcool By.), Co. Cork

Sitting quietly in a field of pasture on a south-facing slope in County Cork, this sub-circular earthwork is the kind of thing that rewards a second glance.

Slightly wider east to west than it is long north to south, measuring roughly 29.5 metres by 17.8 metres, it does not conform to the neat geometry that later periods of building tended to favour. That slight irregularity is part of what makes it interesting.

The enclosure consists of an earthen bank rising about 1.1 metres on its interior face, accompanied by an external fosse, which is essentially a ditch dug to reinforce the barrier, running from the northern side around to the south-east. The fosse survives to a depth of around 0.55 metres. Enclosures of this general type are among the most common archaeological monuments in Ireland, and most are thought to date from the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, though without excavation it is impossible to be certain. They served a range of purposes, from the enclosure of farmsteads and livestock to more ceremonial or boundary-marking functions. The positioning here, set just below a break in the slope, is characteristic; such locations offered natural drainage and a degree of shelter without sacrificing visibility across the surrounding land.

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