Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the commonage to ENE of ‘Lackwee’ at the extreme south-western end of the island. The enclosure lies in a narrow sheltered hollow close to the sea cliffs. The hollow’s axis runs NW–SE and its sides are formed by natural rock outcrops: that on the north-eastern side is an almost sheer sloping sheet of rock. A grassy saddle closes the north-western end of the hollow, but its south-eastern end opens out into a small flat, artificially terrraced, grassy area that terminates to S, right on the edge of a deep sea cove.

The enclosure occupies most of the bottom of south-western end of the hollow. It comprises a small subcircular area (E–W 11.7m, N–S 10.1m) delimited by a broad grassy bank. The latter, although much degraded, is best pre- served at SSE, where it is 4.3m wide and up to 0.5m high. Apart from patches of loose stone on the summit and outer slopes of the bank at S and at its external base at E, few stones protrude from its grassy surface. No trace of an entrance is visible, although a slight dip in the bank’s height at S may mark its site. Two small well-set stones, 0.9m apart, which protrude from the centre of the bank at this point, may be part of an entrance. The interior has a notably dished profile. Most of its eastern half is occupied by a low, roughly oblong mass of loose stone with a flat but uneven surface (NW–SE 6.8m, NE–SW 4.6m, H 0.4m). Although a number of flat slabs are visible within this mass of stone in the south-eastern sector, none of these are well set. In the north-western sector, however, is a hut hollow (MA084-001008-) set into the enclosing bank. There is also a second hut (MA084-001009-), similarly placed, in the south-western sector.

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.