Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In rough-average pasture, located in gently undulating terrain bordered a few hundred meters to W by tracts of bog. There is a natural rise immediately to NW.
Shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map as a circular enclosure and on the 1922 edition as a semi-circular area bordered on the straight side to NW by a field boundary, this rath survives as a D-shaped area (30.8m NE-SW; 20m NW–SE) defined on the curving side at NNE–SW by a bank (Wth 4.9m; int. H 0.55m; ext. H 1.55m at E), and on the straight side to NW by a property fence on a NE–SW axis. The bank appears to be largely earthen but incorporates stones. It is best preserved at E, where it has a broad external slump. Stones protruding from the inner face may be remnants of a kerb. There are narrow eroded breaks at E (Wth 0.6m) and at W (Wth 1m). A broad band of wet boggy ground outside the bank may indicate the presence of a fosse. There is no trace at ground level of the W arc of the rath, to N of the field fence.
In the W half of the interior there is a roughly circular, sod-covered stony rise (diam. c. 7.6m NE–SW; 7m NW–SE; H 0.5m at E), possibly a heap of field stones.
Hawthorn and brambles grow on the perimeter. A possible enclosure (MA038-215----) is located c. 50m to N.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 31 July 2019