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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Ringfort - rath

Facefield, County Mayo, Ireland

The record

Townland
Facefield
County
Mayo
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Hachured
Coordinates
53.78016, -9.06176
SMR number
MA091-009----

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1753 "Mappa geographica Regni Hiberniae" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a slight rise in gently undulating terrain, with good views, especially to W–NW.
Not indicated on the 1838 OS 6-inch map but shown on the 1920 edition. Raised, roughly circular area (33.5m NE–SW; 37m NW–SE) defined by a substantial earthen bank (at SW: Wth 6-6.5m; int. H 0.2m; ext. H 2.4m), with an external fosse evident as a slight depression at ESE–SE. An ephemeral rise outside the fosse may indicate a levelled external bank.
At NW–N the bank is incorporated into a later field fence, which respects its arc. Two roughly circular depressions (diam. 4-6m), probably the result of past quarrying are located more or less on the line of the fosse at NNE–NE.
The rath interior is level, with traces of cultivation ridges on a N–S axis. There is an entrance gap (Wth 2.2m) at ESE, with well-defined bank terminals, a slightly ramped access slope, and a hint of a possible causeway across the fosse.
Grass cover in the interior; the perimeter is thickly ringed with gorse, interspersed with a few hawthorn trees.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 7 February 2022

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
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