Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture in undulating terrain, located on top of a hill lying between two streams, one flowing N into Lough Doo, which is 200m to WNW, and the other flowing N into Ballymore Lough, which is 350m to N. The location provides good views, with the Ox Mountains on the horizon to E.
Slightly raised circular area (27.5m E−W; 27.2m N−S) enclosed by a bank of earth and stone. The bank (Wth 2.3m at W, 3.4m at E; int. H 0.6m at W, 0.7m at E; ext. H 0.6m at W, 1m at E) is faced with stone on the internal and external faces, with large boulders also set against the external face; the stone facing may of relatively recent date.
The interior is level, but with a slight dip in the SE quadrant. There are slight traces of what may be cultivation ridges on a NNW−SSE axis. A number of boulders break the surface.
The original entrance is not obvious: There is a low area (Wth 2.6m), but not a clearly defined gap, at E, and another low area (Wth 3-4m), now blocked by field clearance boulders, at SE.
This rath was tightly boxed in by field walls in the past, probably in the 19th-century; these walls are extant on the W and N, but have been removed on E and S.
Blackthorn and hawthorn grow on the perimeter.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 12 June 2020