Concentric enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a low rise overlooking low-lying land to the N and S with the SE-NW Breedoge river c. 75m to the SW. Oval grass-covered area (dims 64m N-S; 43.5m E-W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 4m generally to 5.7m at W; int. H 0.2m generally to 0.8m at E; ext. H 1.1m generally to 1.8m at W), which is reduced to a scarp at SE (H 0.4m) and N (H 0.8m). This is separated by a fosse (Wth 5.5m) SE-WNW, visible as a band of reeds N-E, from an outer bank (Wth 4.2m; int. H 0.55m; ext. H 0.4m) which survives S-WSW. Just S of the centre is a grass-covered stone spread (dims 8m N-S; 2-3m E-W; H 0.3-0.4m) which may be the remains of a house (RO009-040002-).

The enclosure is within a larger D-shaped enclosure (dims c. 150m N-S; c. 130m E-W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth c. 3-4m; H c. 0.5-1m) SE-W-NW, but this enclosure is truncated by an E-W field bank at N and a NNW-SSE field bank at E. Archaeological testing (08E0224) in an area (dims c. 50-80m WNW-ESE; c. 50m N-S) immediately E of the smaller enclosure produced evidence of a NW-SE ditch (Wth 1.1m) cut in the subsoil but with no dating material (Henry 2011), which could be the fosse of the outer enclosure located here c. 60m E of the inner enclosure.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 15 March 2016

References

Henry, M. 2011a Cloonacarrow. Cut feautres. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2008: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 304, No. 1024. Dublin. Wordwell.