Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a rise. There is a stream 55m to SW.
Raised circular area or platform (30.6m N−S; 30.5m E−W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 3.3m; int. H 0.3m at NNW, 0.5m at SSE; ext. H 1.6m at NNW, 1.45m at SSE), which is reduced to a scarp at SE−NW. The base of the platform is enclosed by a broad, shallow fosse (Wth 4m) with an external bank (Wth 4m at NNW, c. 2m at SSE; int. H 1.1m at NNW, 0.8m at SSE; ext. H 1.9m at NNW, 0.5m at SSE). The external bank is incorporated into a later field wall at E−SSW and is topped with heaps of stones.
A break (Wth 3m) in the inner bank at NE may be an original entrance; a few stones edge the base of the bank terminals. A slight rise in the base of the fosse here may be the remnants of a causeway. No corresponding gap in the external bank is evident, but the external bank has been modified here.
Ground level appears to be slightly higher in the NW part of the interior, and the surface is lightly strewn with stones. There is a souterrain in the S half of the interior. A field wall/property boundary on a WNE−ESE axis cuts across the centre of the rath.
At NE a semi-circular area (10m NE−SW; 6m NW−SE) has been quarried out of the external slope of the rath platform. The rath is engulfed in a stand of hazel trees.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 14 May 2021