Ecclesiastical enclosure in Annagap

Lisnakilla/Lios na Cille: A large subrectangular enclosure situated less than 1km N of Anascaul, on a NE facing slope about 200m W of the Owenascaul river. The foundations of several rectangular house sites lie within the enclosure but there is no visible trace of the souterrain (KE044-065007-) which was discovered many years ago in the SW sector (local information). The Annagap ogham stone, now in the Department of Archaeology, UCC, originally came from this site, and 2 bullaun stones are still to be seen in or near the enclosure. The ecclesiastical nature of the site is suggested by its name, and by the discovery there of the ogham stone and bullaun stones. The enclosure, measuring 121m N-S x 77.5m E-W internally, is bounded for the most part by an earthen bank, faced internally with drystone masonry. The latter may formerly have been continuous, but is no longer present along parts of the N and E sides. Much of the W section of the bank has been replaced by a drystone-built wall, but the outer face of this rests on a low earthen base, .15m high, which may be the remains of the original bank (not marked on accompanying plan). Two short sections of the bank, on the N and SE sides, are faced externally with drystone masonry. The bank varies from 1.5 to 5.3m in width at base and reaches a maximum height of 2m at NW. A 4m wide band of Bog Iris occurs directly outside the N side of the enclosure and may indicate the presence of a fosse here. It is not clear where the original entrance lay. It could be represented by any of the 7 gaps which now provide access to the interior or could, alternatively, have been located where the later stone wall now bounds the site. The interior is divided E-W by 3 walls, the middle one being a modern property boundary of drystone construction, the other 2 being low stony banks and also possibly late features. A subrectangular enclosure, 9.7 x 12.1m internally, abuts the N side of the S dividing wall; its walls are now reduced to stony banks c. 0.5 to .75m high and 1.8m wide. The foundations of a rectangular house abut the S side of the middle dividing wall. It measures 8.85m E-W x 3.6m N-S internally and the walls, for the most part collapsed, were 1.1m wide and now stand no more than .75m high. It is locally referred to as a church, but this may be a recent tradition, as it is not mentioned by the OS or by An Seabhac (1939, 180). At least 4 other rectangular structures, possibly house sites, lie in the N half of the enclosure, their walls now reduced to low stony banks. Two of these abut the S side of the N dividing wall, at its W end. Another abuts the N side of the middle dividing wall, and the 4th occupies the NE corner of the enclosure. Further structures may be indicated by other low banks abutting the dividing walls but too little survives for definite interpretation. The remainder of the interior is occupied by E-W cultivation ridges and it is possible that the dividing walls and internal structures relate to this period of use. Bullaun stones: (1) (KE044-065004-) Incorporated into a field wall about 11m from the SE corner of the enclosure. The stone is triangular in shape and measures .65m x at least .7m x at least. 15m thick. It is unworked except for 2 circular depressions near the edge of one face. These measure .26m in diameter x .12m in depth and .2m in diameter x .05m in depth. (2) (KE044-065006-) Lying beside the N side of the middle dividing wall, near its E end, this irregularly-shaped stone measures a maximum of .84 x .7m x .26m thick. It is unworked except for the oval depression, .38 x .56m in diameter and .21m deep, which occupies the centre of its upper surface. Ogham stone: This was bought by UCC in 1940 from Mr. Garret Fitzgerald and its provenance was given as Parkalassa Fort, Annagap (UCC). No ringfort in the townland is known by this name but the N half of Lisnakilla was owned by Mr. Fitzgerald and the present landowner confirms that it was from here that the ogham stone originally came. The stone measures .3 x .1m x .04m thick and is broken at both ends. The inscription reads: TA)Q MAQ(I... Only the first 2 scores of the I remain and that portion of the stone which bore the first 2 letters (Macalister 1945, 139) is now missing. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 811. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013