Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on gently rising ground overlooking Bekan Lough, which is c. 250m to E. A modern house and barn are immediately to W–NW.
Shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map as a circular embanked enclosure (diam. 45-50m) breached at W by an access road leading to a rectangular building, which occupies the centre of the interior; the building, on a NE–SW axis, is named ‘R. C. Chapel’. The enclosure and the building are not shown on the 1917 edition. The levelled outline of the enclosure is visible in an aerial photograph (GSI M 95 –6; Roll 213, pr. 32; SMR file).
This enclosure has been levelled, but outline of a roughly circular area (diam. c. 40-45m) can be traced: At N–E an ephemeral undulation merges with natural contours, at E–S the arc of a levelled bank can be discerned, and at S–SW a field fence preserves the curve of the enclosure. At W–NW the backyard area of a modern dwelling has obliterated all surface trace of the enclosure.
A shallow depression (c. 15m E–W; c. 8m N–S) extends across the centre of the interior; this would appear to correspond with the location of the R. C. chapel, which is likely to have been late 18th/early 19th-century in date. However, according to local tradition, a slightly raised area (c. 7m NNE–SSW; c. 11m ESE–WNW) in the S–SE of the interior, partly obscured by a number of conifers and a post and wire fence, marks the site of a church. There is also a tradition that burials took place here when the church was in use.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 20 May 2022