Enclosure in Kilteely

On the landscaped grounds of St. Patrick and Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church, 330 E of the summit of Kilteely Hill (OD 580 ft.) and 75m S of the townland boundary with Ballyvouden. Enclosure (LI033-014----) 160m to E. Depicted on the 1840 ed. OSi 6-inch map as a roughly circular-shaped area (dims. c. 46m N-S; 42m E-W) enclosed by a wide fosse with OS trig. station marking 446 ft. OD in centre of monument. Monument not depicted on the 1897 ed. OSi 25-inch map which indicates that the earthwork was levelled between these map dates. On this map a curving field boundary is shown from NW-N-NE and from SE-S which represents the outer enclosing element of the levelled monument. Site surveyed by the ASI in 2007 when it was described as no surface remains visible of levelled monument. It was noted that a slight depression marked site of monument and that the curvilinear field boundary to E of church may represent partial enclosing element of monument. Archaeological testing on the footprint of a proposed pastoral centre adjacent to modern church was undertaken by Brian Halpin (2012, 137) in 2009 under licence No. 08E1011 and the summary of the excavation was described as follows; ‘Testing was carried out over the course of one day in Kilteely, Pallasgreen, Limerick, on a site where a church was erected in 1962 directly over the site of a ringfort. Two trenches were enacted across the footprint of the new development, a parochial centre. The trenches showed evidence of extensive modern disturbance throughout, most probably the result of construction activity of the modern church, which is located 8m from this new structure. It is believed that any trace of the enclosing ditch or associated features from the original ringfort which may have been present in this specific area of investigation were removed during this construction activity. It is possible, however, that a portion of the enclosing ditch or indeed associated features may still survive on other parts of the site’ (Halpin 2009; 2012, 137). Roman Catholic church built on site of enclosure depicted on the 1840 ed. OSi 6-inch map, extant curving field boundary 20m E of the church may represent the outer enclosing element of the enclosure from NE-E. See attached location map of trenches and Google Earth orthoimages Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick Date of upload: 3 April 2021