Earthworks / Talamh Oibrithe

Ballymadder, Co. Wexford

Cropmarks showing in a cereal field at Ballymadder, Co. Wexford

Photo by M. Moore. Courtesy of Con Brogan

Ballymadder, Co. Wexford
Photo by M. Moore. Courtesy of Con Brogan

Ballymadder, Co. Wexford

Cropmarks showing in a cereal field at Ballymadder, Co. Wexford

Photo by M. Moore. Courtesy of Con Brogan

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Parts of the Irish countryside, that have not been subjected to intensive tillage, can retain clear evidence of ancient fields and settlements in the form of earthworks or remains of walls. Sometimes deserted medieval villages or even towns can still be traced on the ground. Where such features have been levelled and the ground is under tillage, levelled enclosures, ancient fields, ringbarrows and other features can show up as cropmarks in aerial photographs. These show up well in cereal crops, where the subsurface archaeological features cause differences in the colour of the crop as it ripens and thus betray the existence of often long-levelled archaeological monuments.

Newtown Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny

The deserted medieval town of Newtown Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny as it was mapped by the Ordnance Survey in 1839

Courtesy of Con Brogan

Newtown Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny
Courtesy of Con Brogan

Newtown Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny

The deserted medieval town of Newtown Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny as it was mapped by the Ordnance Survey in 1839

Courtesy of Con Brogan

Enlarge image

Ás Gaeilge:

I gcodanna de thuaithe na hÉireann nach bhfuil an talamh oibrithe go dian, tá fianaise shoiléir de pháirceanna agus lonnaíochtaí ársa le feiceáil i bhfoirm chréthógálacha nó iarsmaí ballaí. Amanta is féidir rian sráidbhailte nó bailte tréigthe ó na meánaoiseanna a fheiceáil ar an talamh. Áit a bhfuil iarsmaí mar sin cothromaithe agus a bhfuil talamh curaíochta ann, bíonn timpealluithe cothromaithe, páirceanna ársa, tulaí fáinneacha agus gnéithe eile le feiceáil i ngrianghrafanna aeir mar bharrachomharthaí. Bíonn siad le feiceáil go soiléir i mbarraí arbhair mar cruthaíonn na hiarsmaí seandálaíochta faoin dromchla dathanna difriúla san arbhar de réir mar a théann sé in aibíocht. Tugann sé sin le fios go bhfuil séadchomharthaí seandálaíochta ann a cothromaíodh i bhfad ó shin.