Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in a relatively level low-lying location (c. 67m OD) in a gently undulating landscape now characterised by tillage and pastoral farming, and c. 1.5kms to the W of the River Barrow and the border with County Kildare. Sited towards the centre of a large field currently in use for tillage purposes (Google Earth, August 2022) that has another cropmark enclosure (LA020-032----) located c. 70m to the SW. This enclosure is located within an area (neighbouring fields within the same townland of Shanganagh Beg) with numerous other cropmark sites that were identified from earlier aerial photography (1990) including enclosures (LA020-013----; LA020-027----; LA020-028----; LA020-029----), field systems (LA020-013001-; LA020-026----), and a complex possible moated site (LA020-025----).

This particular enclosure is clearly visible as a cropmark on the Google Earth (August 2022) imagery of the area. It consists of a circular feature (est. ext. dims c. 46.87m N-S x 42.73m E-W) that is defined by a ditch (est. Wth c. 2-2.5m) that can be largely traced around the entire circuit of the site in the above imagery. The very S portion of the arc of the site has been cut across by a later field boundary (running roughly ENE-WSW across the field) that is indicated on the Ordnance Survey first ed. six-inch map of c. 1838 and the Ordnance Survey third ed. six-inch map of c. 1909 but has now been removed. No definitive evidence for an entrance gap although the imagery hints that this may have been to the SW arc of the site.

Compiled by: T.J. O'Meara based on details provided by Jean-Charles Caillère

Uploaded on: 27/07/2023

See attached:
LA020-031----_01 Google Earth (August 2022)