Enclosure, Boheragaddy, Co. Kilkenny

Co. Kilkenny |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Boheragaddy, Co. Kilkenny

In the townland of Boheragaddy in County Kilkenny, a large circular enclosure sits largely swallowed by trees and scrub, its outline more a matter of historical record than present-day visibility.

What makes it quietly compelling is its persistence on the map long after whatever it once contained had ceased to be legible on the ground.

The enclosure was recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1839, and was still considered significant enough to appear again on the revision carried out between 1899 and 1902. At roughly 82 metres north to south and 80 metres east to west, it is a substantial feature, broadly circular in plan. Circular enclosures of this kind in Ireland range widely in origin and function, from early medieval ringforts used as enclosed farmsteads to ecclesiastical enclosures surrounding early church sites, and without excavation it is difficult to say which category this example falls into. What the cartographic record does show is that its boundaries have left an impression on the local administrative landscape as well as the topographical one: the townland boundary follows the outer edge of the enclosure along its western and south-western arc, suggesting the enclosure was already an established landmark when that boundary was drawn. A public road runs along the outer edge of the north-western quadrant on a north-east to south-west alignment, another indication that the feature shaped the movement and organisation of the surrounding land over a long period.

The site is accessible by the public road that skirts its north-western edge, though the interior itself is overgrown and the earthworks, if they survive intact beneath the vegetation, would require some effort to read on the ground. The clearest sense of the enclosure's scale and shape may still come from comparing it against the 1839 Ordnance Survey map, where its near-perfect circularity is plainly visible.

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Pete F
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