Field boundary, Mangerton, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Ritual/Ceremonial

Field boundary, Mangerton, Co. Kerry

On the south-west-facing slope of Mangerton Mountain in County Kerry, a low wall breaks through the surface of a heather bog in a way that quietly refuses to make sense of the landscape around it.

The upright stones, each standing roughly a metre high, are spaced at irregular intervals rather than packed tightly together in the manner of a conventional field boundary. They protrude from the bog surface like a interrupted sentence, suggesting that the ground has risen around them over centuries rather than that the wall was ever meant to look quite as it does now.

The structure runs for around 150 metres on a broadly north-east to south-west alignment before curving south and then east, where it terminates after a further 50 metres. It sits approximately 60 metres west of a recorded hut site, and that proximity is probably not coincidental. Together, the wall and the hut point to a period when this rough upland ground was actively managed, farmed, or at least occupied by people who needed to mark out space, shelter animals, or define territory. The bog has since encroached, preserving the stones even as it obscured whatever ground-level activity once took place here. The construction technique, using single upright stones set at intervals rather than a coursed or closely packed rubble wall, is relatively unusual and may reflect a particular local tradition or simply the available material on a mountain slope where loose slabs were easier to source than rounded field stones.

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 Field boundary, Mangerton, Co. Kerry. 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