Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

On a steep and prominent rise in undulating fertile pasture with good views to N over the Inagh River estuary. Hachured on both the first (1840) and Cassini (1916) editions of the OS 6-inch map. Classified as an enclosure in the RMP (1996). A bivallate rath is defined by an inner bank and scarp, a fosse and a second, outer bank. The round-topped inner bank (Wth 1.6m; int. H 0.15m; ext. H 1.15-2.1m) only survives at SSW (L c. 13m) and has been reduced to a scarp elsewhere (H 1.15m at E – 1.95m at N). It is composed of earth and stone with a possible revetment of horizontally set stones visible along its outer face. The fosse (Wth at base 3m; Wth at top 10m) has steep sides and a flat base.  The outer bank (Wth 4-6m; int. H 1.1-1.4m; ext. H 1.1-1.4m) has steep sides and is flat-topped. At E, a denuded gap in the bank with a corresponding causeway (Wth 2-5m) across the fosse inside marks the location of the original entrance. The interior is level and featureless. In 1997, testing in advance of an adjacent housing development to the S did not identify any archaeological features (Murphy 1997).

 

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Eve Campbell

 

Date of upload: 7-10-2025

References

Murphy, D. 1997. 24 Dough In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 1997: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 7. Bray. Wordwell.