Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

In a field immediately NE of the roundabout at the junction of the N77 and the Castlecomer Road, formerly part of a sand and gravel quarry. Indicated on the 1st (1839-40) ed. OS 6-inch map as a circular enclosure (diam. c. 30m) but not shown on the 1945-6 revision which suggests the monument had been levelled by 1946. Satellite imagery (Google Earth, 20 November 2005) indicates that some quarrying took place in the field c. 2005, possibly associated with the works for the construction of the ring road, and that the field has subsequently been left fallow (Google Earth, 17 September 2019). The locational information from the 1st ed. OS 6-inch map appears to have been incorrectly transferred to the RMP (1996) mapping, resulting in the enclosure being indicated c. 50m SW of where it should have been. Archaeological excavations in 2003 verified this (O'Hara and Tooher 2003). A re-evaluation of the excavation report with the rectified locational information taken into consideration reveals that in the vicinity of the SW sector of the enclosure, at the edge of the road-take, a shallow clay-filled pit (diam. 0.4m; D 0.1m) containing very occasional traces of charcoal and cremated bone was found (ibid. 6). The enclosure appears to be located immediately outside the area of the road-take.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 16 September 2020

References

O'Hara, R. and Tooher, A. 2003 Archaeological assessment: N77 Kilkenny ring road extension: Site A, Licence no. 03E1720. Unpublished report submitted to the National Monument Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government.