Enclosure in Ballinkillin, County Carlow

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At the base of an E-facing slope and towards the NW end of a NW-SE ridge, sloping to the NE. There is granite bedrock in the field to the E, including an outcrop 82m to the E hich has plug holes where it was prepared for splitting and then abandoned. Indicated on the 1st ed. 6-inch OS map as an oval enclosure (dims. c. 31m NW-SE; c. 24m NE-SW) with a farm trackway running NW-SE immediately outside the S-SW quadrant. On the subsequent 6-inch OS revision and 25-inch OS map the enclosure is depicted with hachures pointing inwards, which indicates a hollow or depression. This suggests that this was either a quarry or an enclosure which was quarried into and in both scenarios subsequently filled in. A field boundary running NE-SW meets the enclosure at the N quadrant. There are also two smaller field boundaries meeting the enclosure in the SSW and SW sectors. The enclosure is defined NW-S by scarp/earthen bank which in the NNE-S has an external stone revetment, typical of the surrounding field boundaries. In the N sector there is a slight earthen and stone bank which slopes gradually into the interior. The W quadrant is defined by large granite boulders which appear to have been dumped along this side. Much of the interior is heavily overgrown with scrub, with some mature trees growing around the edge. There are a lot of large granite boulders strewn about the circumference and exterior.

From the National Monuments Service (Archaeological Survey of Ireland) record CW019-123

Places near here

Picture notes

liam murphy, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Computer-made picture. It does not show this monument.
Alex Passmore, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Computer-made picture. It does not show this playground.
Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Miguel Angel Masegosa Martínez, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Mike Searle, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Computer-made picture. It does not show this walking route.

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