Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

On the S-facing slope of Coad Mountain, overlooking the Kenmare River to the S. This enclosure is visible on an aerial photograph (ACAP, V 157/116-7), taken in 1954, as a D-shaped area with the straight NE side formed by a field boundary. There is a vague trace of the remainder of the enclosure, on the aerial photograph, to the NE of the field boundary. It is indicated as an irregular area (c. 30m x c. 30m) on the 1846 OS 6-inch map and on the 1896 OS 6-inch map as a D-shaped area (c. 20m NE-SW) with a straight NE side (L c. 40m). Archaeological monitoring during the construction of a house within the enclosure uncovered flecks of charcoal in the clay (c. 1m below ground level) within the S part of the house foundation trench. As the charcoal may have indicated activity associated with the enclosure, the material was not excavated and the ground level was subsequently raised. According to the excavator (Ní Loingsigh 2002, 140-41), the bank of the enclosure is formed of natural deposits of gravel. A natural gravel mound to the NW appears to have been landscaped to form the W and N banks of the enclosure and was possibly hollowed out to form the centre.

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.

Date of upload: 30 May 2011