Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a rise in an area of mixed rough and average grassland.
This rath is named ‘Rathoe’ on the 1838 and 1922 OS 6-inch maps. It is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map as a circular embanked enclosure, and on the 1922 edition as an oval enclosure (c. 30m N−S; c. 25m E−W), truncated by or incorporated into field boundaries on the NW arc, and bisected roughly centrally on a NNW−SSE axis by a field boundary.
This rath has been partly levelled and the remainder is engulfed in overgrowth, making inspection difficult, however, the outline of a roughly oval area (25-30m NNE−SSW) can still be discerned, with a NNW−SSE field boundary extending through its centre. The E half of the enclosure (i.e. to NE of the bisecting field fence) has been levelled, and its outline is discernible only as a slightly raised area defined on the perimeter by a broad low slope. The W half of the enclosure is obscured by a dense thicket of blackthorn, hawthorn and brambles. A small section of the perimeter at SE-SW can be examined –here an arc of stone bank (Wth 3.3m; int. H 0.3m; ext. H 0.6m), perhaps a collapsed wall, can be seen. This stone bank does not appear to be present on the NW arc, where there is now a field fence on a NNE−SSW axis.
A small circular hachured feature is indicated on the 1922 OS 6-inch map in the SW quadrant of the rath. At roughly this location in the interior, there is a roughly circular heap of stones (diam. c. 4m N−S; c. 5m E−W; H 0.4-0.5m), now covered in overgrowth. It is not possible to be certain what this is; it resembles a field clearance cairn rather than a built structure.
There is an enclosure (MA040-016----) c. 50m to SW.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 22 April 2020