Enclosure, Dromteewakeen, Co. Kerry

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Enclosures

Enclosure, Dromteewakeen, Co. Kerry

On the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, a small ruined enclosure sits at Dromteewakeen, its proportions modest enough to overlook entirely.

The surviving wall stands only 0.3 metres high, yet averages 1.2 metres in width, which gives the structure an oddly squat, compressed quality, as though it has settled gradually into the ground over centuries. The enclosed area measures just 5.2 metres by 3.1 metres, roughly the footprint of a large garden shed, with an entrance gap of 0.8 metres opening to the east.

Enclosures of this kind are scattered across Kerry and the wider Irish landscape, and their purposes varied considerably. Some served as animal pens, others as the foundations of small dwellings or ancillary farm structures, and a number have associations with early medieval settlement activity. The thick wall relative to the internal space is a recurring feature of such monuments, though without further excavation it is difficult to say more about this particular example's function or date. The site was catalogued as part of the archaeological survey of the Iveragh Peninsula compiled by A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan and published by Cork University Press in 1996, a systematic effort to document the remarkable density of monuments across South Kerry.

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