What is recorded here

Enclosure in Gortageen is a slightly raised circular pasture in County Cork where a buried church and graveyard still breathe beneath the grass. Bowman measured its fifty-five-yard diameter in 1934, yet the true boundary emerges only when ploughs bite deep enough to drag slate stones across the soil. The field fence cuts through one side like a forgotten argument, forcing the ancient circle to adapt rather than disappear.

In pasture. Subcircular slightly raised area (c. 46m N-S; c. 46m E-W) defined by low grass-covered bank (int. H 0.3m; ext. H 0.6m), truncated by field fence to S. According to local information, when field ploughed, concentration of slate-like stones visible on line of bank. Noted by Bowman (1934, 304) as raised area (diam. 55yd) 'about 2 feet higher than field level'. Burial ground (14101) and site of church at centre. Cropmark of fosse of roughly square enclosure (c. 50m E-W; c. 50m N-S) visible in aerial photograph (GSIAP, W394; July 1975) surrounding church and graveyard. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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