Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a rise.
Raised subcircular area (diam. 25-30m) defined by an earth and stone bank, and enclosed by a fosse with an external earth and stone bank.
The stony inner bank (Wth 3-3.4m at SE; 3.5-4m at NW; int. H 0.65m at SE, 0.3m at NW; ext. H 1.6-1.7m) is best preserved on the S arc. It is low and slumped on the inner face. Stones protrude in parts on the inner and outer face, possibly remnants of original stone facing.
The fosse (Wth 3m at S, 3.7m at NW) is most clearly defined on the W half, where it is broad and flat-based. The stony external bank (Wth 3-3.4m at SE; 3.7m at NW; int. H 1.3-1.4m; ext. H 0.8-1.2m at SE, 0.7m at NW) also retains remnants of possible stone facing. It is reduced to a low overgrowth-covered rise on the E arc.
A irregular-shaped depression (Wth 2-4m; D 0.4m), which varies in width and depth, cuts through the inner bank at SW. It extends into the rath interior for 7m to NNE and then swings to ESE for 6m. It is of uncertain significance –there are no obvious stone features that would suggest it is a souterrain.
Two field walls cross the ringfort roughly centrally: one on a roughly N−S axis; the other on a NW−SE axis. Another field wall, on a NNW−SSE axis, cuts across the fosse on the E arc, and a farm track, which lies parallel on the W side of the wall, cuts through and levels the inner bank and part of the E edge of the interior. The rath is engulfed in a dense stand of hazel, blackthorn and hawthorn.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 16 February 2021