Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a prominent E−W ridge, on a peninsula jutting into Clew Bay. The rath occupies a terrace at the NE end of the ridge; ground rises gently to W to the ridge summit. There are good views to S over the Bay and to N over undulating terrain and into an inlet bordering the N side of the peninsula.
This rath is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map; it is not shown on later map editions. Oval area (34m E−W; 30.5m N−S) defined by a scarp with traces of a fosse on the S arc. At E−S the scarp (H 1.5m) has a pronounced external slope, but it peters out at S−SW, and is largely levelled at SW−NW, where a later drystone field wall overlies it; at N−NE the scarp merges seamlessly with the steep natural slope of the ridge. There is a hint of a raised internal lip on the top edge of the scarp at S; this may be a remnant of an original enclosing bank, or simply be a feature created by the roots of several small stunted hawthorn trees that grow along this section of the scarp.
The fosse (Wth 3m; D 0.55m) at SE−S is markedly sunken, but at S−SW it can be traced only as a slight surface depression with differential vegetation growth; it cannot be traced elsewhere around the circuit.
The interior slopes down towards the perimeter in the SE quadrant, most likely reflecting the natural ridge contours. Remnants of later field walls traverse the interior; these are reduced to barely discernible sod-covered stony linear features (Wth 0.5-0.8m), intersecting with the top edge of the scarp at N, extending N−S through the E half of the interior and E−W through the S half of the interior. According local tradition, the rath was used as a burial ground (MA087-081001-).

Images:
MA087-081----_01.JPG Rath viewed from S
MA087-081----_02.JPG Interior of rath viewed from NW
MA087-081----_03.JPG Rath viewed from N

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 26 February 2021