Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a SSE-facing slope only 5m from the cliff edge on eastern coast of the island. The enclosure sits on a fairly level patch of open heath immediately S of a sharp but natural break of slope that is strewn with small boulders. There are traces of ridge and spade cultivation ridges with associated boundaries to S and W. In the immediate vicinity of the monument these follow a ESE–WNW axis and actually tangentially abut the outer face of the enclosure along its southern side.

The enclosure is poorly preserved, roughly oval in plan (NE–SW c. 16.8m, NW–SE 14.3m). It is defined by an earth and stone bank, partially overgrown with heather, which is best preserved from WNW to N where it is to 0.9m high internally. Even here, however, its top is much denuded and uneven. Elsewhere, the bank is only poorly preserved and is much degraded, particularly from SW to W, where it is much broken down and possibly partly overlain by the cultivation ridges. Also, from NE to ENE only a jumble of boulders serve to indicate its line. A few well-set slabs in this area may represent the vestiges of an external revetment. There is also a well-set slab on the line of the bank at W, whose long axis is at right angles to the bank. No trace of a fosse is visible nor is there any definite entrance feature. However, there are notable gaps in the bank at NNE, E and W. The interior, mantled by bracken and willow saplings, slopes slightly from W to E. It is very uneven underfoot and a number of large boulders mantled in moss and heather dot its surface.

The above description is derived from: New Survey of Clare Island. Volume 5: Archaeology. Edited by Paul Gosling, Conleth Manning and John Waddell. (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. 2007). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 29 November 2018

References

Gosling, P., Manning, C. and Waddell, J. (eds.) 2007 New Survey of Clare Island, Volume 5: Archaeology. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy.