Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, in a thicket of overgrowth, located on top of a hill giving good views NW–NE over a broad expanse of grassland and bog. There is a N-flowing stream 90m to W. The ground falls steeply to S–SE into a natural depression of wet ground.
This rath is shown on the 1837 OS 6-inch map as an oval embanked enclosure, with a field boundary on a N-S crossing the E half of the interior, and a building/farmstead abutting the W side. On 1919 OS edition only the W half of the enclosure is depicted.
Only the W half of the rath remains. It consists of a semi-circular, raised area (c. 30m N–S; c. 15-20m E–W to quarry pit) defined SSW–N by an earthen scarp (Wth slope 2.3m; H 1m at NW). The E half of the enclosure has been quarried away, although it is possible that a portion of the enclosure may be incorporated into the remnants of a N–S field fence on the E edge of the quarried area. A farm track on a NW–SE axis, flanked by field fences, clips the W edge of the rath, and a field fence on a roughly E–W axis, clips the scarp at N.
It is densely covered in brambles and hawthorn and blackthorn bushes.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 7 December 2020