County: Kerry Site name: Bridia 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 21E0487
Author: Eugene Costello , University College Cork / Stockholm University & Caitríona Moore, ABH Ltd
Site type: Abandoned upland livestock enclosure
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 479826m, N 582314m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.979871, -9.749413
A research excavation was carried out from 31 July to 4 August 2021 on a livestock enclosure found at an altitude of 300m in an area of rocky upland pasture in Bridia, Co. Kerry. The site is named ‘Bridia 2’ and was identified by Eugene Costello in 2020 as part of a wider research project on upland pastoralism in the late medieval and early modern periods. The enclosure is roughly sub-rectangular in shape and has not been used within living memory. The aim of the excavation was to obtain material which might help to date its construction and/or use.
A small excavation trench measuring 1.5m by 1m was opened across the eastern wall of the enclosure. The excavation uncovered a layer of tumbled stones on the outside of the enclosure wall in the trench. It also revealed that the enclosure wall was built on top of blanket peat. Radiocarbon dating of a bulk peat sample from under the wall, coupled with cartographic evidence, suggests that the enclosure was built in the 18th or early 19th century. Further radiocarbon dating is being undertaken on the underlying peat to obtain a secure terminus post quem for the enclosure’s construction
University College Cork & ABH Ltd
