Part II.—Kilkee to Carrigaholt

Liscroneen

Liscroneen (O.S. 66).—Reaching the little bridge on the road from Kilkee to the N. W. of Doonaha, we see to the east, across a marshy depression, one of the finest forts in the barony, ^[17] Liscroneen. It seems at first sight to be a long, low, natural knoll thickly covered with brushwood and furze; but when we reach it and climb on to its outer ring, we realize the magnitude and strength of the work, as we look into a fosse of unusual width and depth. The outer ring is for most of its circuit 5 to 6 feet high and very steep, 23 feet thick at the field level, and 12 feet wide on top. The fosse is 12 feet deep, but, from the height and slope of the banks, seems far deeper than 6 or 7 feet below the field. It is 18 to 20 feet wide all round the bottom, still holds water, and when we last saw it, was gorgeous with a mass of yellow iris in full bloom—a common but beautiful feature in many of these entrenchments. The inner ring is about 30 feet thick at the base, but half that width at the garth, and 12 feet on top; it rises from 18 to 21 feet over the fosse and 7 feet over the garth. The ring is well preserved, and encloses a space 144 feet N. and S., and 150 feet E. and W.; like the fosse, it is overgrown with “flags” (“flaggers” or iris), which is strange in so well drained a site surrounded by a ditch 10 to 11 feet deep. There are some slight traces of enclosures in the garth; the present gangway and its gaps lie to the east; as in so many other forts, we suspect that it was once accessible only by a bridge and ladders, but, as we noted in the earlier part of this paper, both Lisduff in Moveen and Doon Fort, near Kilfenora, seem to have contemporary gangways. ^[18] The outer ring and the inner face of the interior were revetted with dry masonry down to recent times. Measuring along the passage, the inner ring is 15 feet thick, the gangway 27 feet long, and the outer ring 23 feet thick. Standing in high fields, the fort commands a pleasing view up the Shannon and across to Kerry.

Plan and Section, Liscroneen (not to scale)