TreeAlive
‹ Sites and Monuments Record, Ireland

Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Ringfort - rath

Killahurk, County Leitrim, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Ringfort - rath, Killahurk, County Leitrim, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Killahurk
County
Leitrim
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Fort
Latest-edition OS map
Hachured
Coordinates
53.97763, -7.66160
SMR number
LE030-028----

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1811 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Get directions ↗

This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated at the N tip of a S-N spur of a drumlin. This is a grass and rush-covered circular area (int. diam. 37m E-W; 35.5m N-S) which is defined by two overgrown earthen banks and an intervening fosse (max. ext. diam. 84m N-S; 81.5m E-W). The inner bank is flat-topped (Wth of base 6.5-10.2m; Wth of top 2-3m) and steep-sided (int. H 1m at E to 2.2m at S; ext. H 3.2-3.6m), although it has been spread about SW-NW and ENE-SE. The outer bank varies in width (Wth of base 2.5m at S to 6m at N; ext. H 1-2m). The fosse (Wth of top 12.4-14.4m; Wth of base 3.7m at S to 7m at E; ext. D 0.5-1.2m) is flat-bottomed and water-logged in places with a berm (Wth 1-3m) separating it from the outer bank, except at W (total ext. D 1-1.6m S-W to 2.3-2.6m N-E). There is an entrance through the inner (Wth of base 3.4m) and outer (Wth of base 3.5m) banks and a causeway (Wth of top 4.5m) at ESE. In general, there are smaller dimensions on all features along the E side, and it is likely that the fosse has been re-dug at some time with the spoil added to the inner bank.

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 14 October 2019

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Ringfort - rath in Leitrim All County Leitrim records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
See your own family's places on a living map