Enclosure, Commons, Co. Clare

Co. Clare |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Commons, Co. Clare

Along a ridge in County Clare, a large rectangular enclosure sits on commanding high ground, its drystone walls still standing to between 0.9 and 1.3 metres in places, moss creeping up the base stones on the north-west and south-east sides.

The south-east wall runs right to the edge of a natural scarp, dropping a metre and a half to the terraced ground below. It is the kind of place that reads, at first glance, as a field boundary, until you notice what is inside.

The enclosure measures roughly 69 metres on its north-east to south-west axis and 50 metres across, making it a substantial structure by any standard. It appears on the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps of both 1842 and 1920, and on Tim Robinson's 1977 map of the area it carries the name Lios Gaeilge, an Irish-language term for a lios, the type of enclosed settlement associated with early medieval Ireland. Running through the southern centre of the interior is a double-faced wall, about 1.2 metres wide and still 0.6 metres high, with considerable tumble spread around it, suggesting something older and more deliberate than a later field division. More telling still is the presence of a souterrain, roughly 10 metres north of this internal wall. A souterrain is an underground stone-lined passage, typically associated with early medieval settlement sites in Ireland, used variously for storage, refuge, or ventilation. This one sits in the north-east corner of a natural hollow or possible quarry roughly 25 by 15 metres across. A second hollow is visible in the southern part of the enclosure, and spreads of stone lie against the inner face of the north-east wall and along the exterior near the northern end, all hinting at structures and activity long since collapsed into the ground.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Enclosure, Commons, Co. Clare. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement