Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

U-shaped enclosure: 'Located on a level rock spur, W of the route to the summit from the Needle's Eye, this small enclosure or hut measures 2.3m NE-SW x 1.2m NW-SE internally. Its drystone walls are up to 0.5m wide and are preserved to an internal height of .3m. The external wall facing has collapsed downslope at S. Amongst the rubble infilling the hut's interior was found a small stone cross [KE104A001012-], 0.21m x 0.13m' (O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 287, no. 948 (24)).
Enclosure described in 1990 as follows; 'The remains of another odd structure lie nearby, separated from the trail leading to the top and visible only from above. On the far side of the Needle's Eye are the remains of a small U-shaped enclosure built on a level spur facing west to the sea. The inside of the enclosure is about 2.3 meters long and 1.2 meters wide; the wall varies in thickness from 0.35 to 0.50 meter. Although the enclosure wall now is rather low, with stone rubble filling the interior, it is still possible to trace both the inside and the outside except at the entry and externally at the southwestern corner, where it has fallen away. The masonry, of fairly small-sized stones, is difficult to judge, but the scale and technique of construction are those of a rectilinear enclosure wall, not those of the base of a cell. Judging from the amount of fallen stone and taking into consideration stone that has fallen over the edge, we calculate that the original wall may have been from 1 meter to 1.5 meters high. A short length of wax candle and a fragment of a rude stone cross [KE104A001012-], identical to crosses in the monastery graveyard, lay under collapsed stone in the enclosure ' (Horn et. al. 1990 30-2).

See attached figures 21, 22 and 23 taken from Horn, W., White Marshall, J. and Rourke, G. 1990 The forgotten hermitage of Skellig Michael.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 2 March 2022

References

O'Sullivan, A. and Sheehan, J. 1996 The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry. Cork University press.

Horn, W., White Marshall, J. and Rourke, G. 1990 The forgotten hermitage of Skellig Michael. Berkley. University of California Press.