A couple of weeks ago I mentioned here that I was going to take a look at an
enclosure that was not on the SMR that had been viewed by the Tipperary Co.
archaeologist, who had found it to be interesting & had been unable to label it.
That I did, accompanied by my archy buddy Bob.

Some of the photos are available for viewing on the web (url below). I'll
hopeully be able to provide some more next week, plus some enhanced versions
that show up the features better. Some of the best pictures are missing, which
is deeply irritating, but they'll be available in a few days.

GENERAL SETTING
Basically, this is an oval enclosure 50m x 80m located on a lowland site about 6
miles north of Tipperary town with the Silvermines mountains visible in the
distance. It is approx. 1 day's walk from the Lough Gur area.

The land is generally wet, poor and populated with torloughs & what are probably
drumlins (in the opinion of Bob). The soil in the general area is generally
slightly acidic, though there are some limey patches. Generally, the subsoil is
sandy on a sandstone base.

Surrounding fields have mostly been drained and 'improved', enlarged, levelled
etc, though some still show the original 'drumlin' features. Notably, the fields
with these 'drumlins' are all located very close to those containing the
enclosure and associated features.

The immediate setting of the enclosure includes a number of features. The
letters in parentheses in the following refer to the labels used in the rough
plan plan.gif at the url below.

To the south of the enclosure (A) is a field boundary (H) which follows a long
curve but which is accomanied by no other visible signs. This is likely the only
remaining signs of the former presence of another circular or sub-circular
enclosure.

Close to this and lying between the enclosure and curving field boundary is a
ring (G) c.3m in diameter visible only in the form of a change in vegetation
(from grass to rushes). It appears to have an opening facing west. Approximately
in the centre is a small cluster of rushes. Though perhaps just a chance
location, this may mark a subsoil feature such as a hearth site or cist. If so,
this would increase the chance that this marks the site of a hut or perhaps a
levelled barrow.

Curving out from the enclosure itself are two 'arms' (F). These earthen ridges
are curved and are of similar height and diameter. It seems likely that they are
the remains of either a single larger enclosure containing our enclosure, or the
remains of two separate enclosures attached to the central one. They are only
partially visible due to levelling of adjacent fields, a small wood, and field
boundaries.

Also in the immediate area is a single earthen linear ridge which lies to the
east of the enclosure and points towards it in line with the gap between the two
'arms'. This was in a field containing lambing sheep and so was not available
for close inspection. It is impossible to say at present if this is more likely
a 'feature' or upcast from a field ditch.

In adjacent fields were several 'drumlins', at least one of which was, in the
opinion of the Tipperary county archaeologist, likely to be of human rather than
natural origin. None showed any signs of revetment, or bank or ditch. Most,
though, showed signs of dampness around the base of their perimeter in the form
- again - of a vegetation change in a distinct ring of c.0.3m - 0.5m diameter.
This dampness may be due to runoff from the mounds themselves, but may also
indicate a buried ditch. All were raised approx 1.5m from the field surface in a
gentle slope.

The farmhouse associated with these fields had immediately behind it the remains
of another earthen ring, probably of similar dimensions to our enclosure, and
with a bank rising again to c.1.5m. This (and also the curved field boundary)
are listed in the SMR.


ENCLOSURE
The enclosure (A) is ovate and composed wholly of earth. No stone was visible.
There has been a lot of spread of the earthen bank. Currently the bank reaches
c.1.5m height, and has spread to maybe 4m. The top of the bank is composed
mostly of sand, as recorded in a recent REPS survey, and by the presence of
thistles in large numbers (these occur nowhere else in the area that could be
seen). As the interior lies slightly lower than the surrounding field surface,
this indicates that the bank was riased by scarping of the interior. An opening
(B) lies on the west/wnw side & is currently c.2.5m wide. The enclosure is
widest along an approx SW-NE axis.

The interior features are comprised of a pool (E) (likely a spring rather than a
turlough as it has never been seen to dry up yet) at the northern end of the
enclosure which sits in a near-permanent patch of marsh (D). To the southern end
of the enclosure is a very slightly raised rectangular patch (C) visible mainly
as no more than a shape marked by a change in grass colouration. The interior as
a whole is very boggy, moreso than the field in which it lies.

DISCUSSION
The main enclosure appears to be a henge-type. Specifically, it seems to belong
to a group, several dozen in number, found in Ireland mainly in the areas around
Lough Gur in Co Limerick and the Boyne valley complex in Co Meath. Other
examples exist in Cos Down, Louth, & elsewhere. The main features of these
henges are that they tend to be earthen, small (generally around the 30m
diameter mark, placing this example at the upper size end), have either no ditch
associated with the bank, or a small ditch along the interior of the bank. It is
not unusual for them to occur in small clusters, which would tie in with the
nearby curving field boundary and the ruined earthen enclosure nearer the
farmhouse. In this example, the interior was clearly scarped to raise the bank,
and this method was used in several others in the north Munster area. The
presence of the pool/spring inside the enclosure seems unusual, though one other
henge also has this feature. It is located just north of Clonmel, and thus only
a day's walk away.

The suggestion of a rectangular hut/house inside the enclosure also has several
parallels, as does the presence of an adjacent circular hut site (or cist
burial, too, for that matter).

No parallel for the 'arms' can be found, though if these represent part of a
larger destroyed enclosure, there are several parallels. The inclusion (wholly
or in part) of smaller, older sites in large enclosures, and especially in their
perimeter, is not uncommon. The obvius 'easy' example is the Hill of Tara
complex. At Tara there are examples of cairns included in later ring ditches,
the the inclusion or overlay of older enclosures within newer ones, etc. In this
case in Tipperary, it is possible that the smaller enclosure was included in a
later, larger enclosure, the main part of which was lost to field levelling.

One last matter needs attention. The 'drumlins' in the immediate vicinity may
indeed be drumlins which are extant now only in a few fields, the others
levelled in field improvements. They could, however, be mounds raised by humans.
It is impossible to say, and opinions currently differ as to the truth of the
matter, and indeed as to which may be 'real' and which 'imagined' mounds.

It is surprising that this enclosure appears to never have been recorded either
on any of the Ordnance Survey map series, nor in the Sites & Monuments Record.
This is especially so as it is accompanied by two sites(both ruined) which are,
and at least one (and possibly several) other which are in the same fields and
quite visible. As this site will be included in surveying for the compilation of
the Tipperary Archaeological Inventory books, this will soon cease to be the
case.

If the above interpretation is at all accurate, this site would appear to be one
of the larger examples of the Neolithic/EBA transition henge type associated
with the advent of the use of copper, the appearance of Beaker pottery and the
demise/ mutation of late Neolithic social structures. Further, it would seem to
be a part of the henge group associated with the Lough Gur complex, which are
found scattered through south Co Limerick and through Co Tipperary. One source
(Cooney & Grogan) view this scattering (and the similar scattering around the
Boyne area, Louth etc) as the result of the dispersal of power from these two
late Neolithic centres. Whatever the case, it seems that this is a henge (or
complex including one or more henges) dating to about 4300-4000 BP which was a
real pleasure to visit... and Catherine's hot cross buns were spot on also ;-)

Pictures & plan are at groups.yahoo.com/group/irish-archaeology/files in the
folder named 'henge

To access this you'll need to sign in to yahoo, unfortunately. Perhaps some kind
dude will put copies up on a more generally accessible web site... please?

Stiof