Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

'The only feature on the spur at Ballycarty, which was recorded on previous maps and in the RMP for County Kerry is the centrally placed enclosure. The enclosure has a substantial earth and stone bank which is extant all round the site except for a gap, at least 7m long and possibly as long as 25m, on the northern side where the natural scarp of the hill falls away from the site , so giving this side the appearance of a raised platform. Whether or not the bank ever existed at this point is hard to say , however given the presence of a natural scarp here this would not seem to be the site of any possible entrance. The bank encloses an area 39m N-S and 38m E-W and has a maximum width of 7.6m, on it's southern side. The bank has an average internal height of 0.60m and an average external height of 0.75m. The causeway feature, already described, runs right up to the enclosing bank on the eastern side. Inside the enclosing bank, in the south eastern quadrant, there is a very definite internal ditch 1.6m wide and with an average depth of 0.34m. Elsewhere around the site this ditch may be obscured by collapse from the enclosing bank. Eccentrically placed inside the enclosure is a sub - circular, sod covered cairn of stone measuring 22.6m N-S and 22m E-W with a maximum height of 1.5m . The surface of the cairn exhibits a P-shaped area of collapse measuring 6.5m in total length and 2.5m in width, with an average depth of 0.5m. Running east and west from this central mound is a stone and earth bank on average 4m wide and 0.35m high. On the western side this feature runs right up to the enclosing bank but on the eastern side it stops 3.6m short of the enclosing bank. The bank on the western side is almost perfectly straight while that running from the eastern side has a distinct curvature. Immediately outside and abutting the western side of the central enclosure are four large sub rectangular rock-cut depressions. The most northerly example measures 7.4m X 12m and has an average depth of 0.5m. The second pit measures 10m X 4m and has an average depth of 0.7m . The third measures 4.8m X 1.8m and is 0.5m deep while the most southerly example measures 9 X 7.9m and is 0.75m deep. The exact function of these rock cut depressions is impossible to ascertain but they may be quarry ditches associated with some phase of the construction on the spur.'

Description from ‘The Prehistoric Settlement of the Lee Valley, Tralee, Co. Kerry; A Landscape Perspective’ by Michael Connolly. PhD Thesis UCC 2008

Date of upload: 20 June 2012