Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a terrace on the N-facing slope of an E–W ridge, in hilly, undulating terrain broken by limestone outcropping. There are good views to N along the E–W routeway of the valley and of a parallel ridge on opposite side.
Sub-circular area (67m N–S; 69m E–W) enclosed by a drystone wall (Wth 0.8-1.4m; H 1-1.2m). The wall is rather roughly constructed of medium and large limestone boulders and is intact for most of its circuit. Certain sections, particularly at NW–N, may have been rebuilt in the recent past. At N there is a low sod-covered stony plinth at the base of the wall. This may be simply wall tumble, or it may represent a more substantial, projecting foundation on this side to compensate for the natural fall of ground.
There are breaks at ESE (Wth 0.7m) and at SSW (Wth 2.5m) which allow access to the interior but it is not clear if either of these represents an original entrance.
The interior is not noticeably raised; it is fairly level but with an uneven surface. There is evidence for internal divisions: At N a slightly sunken subrectangular area (15.7m N–S; 36.6m E–W) abutting cashel wall is defined on the S side by a low sod-covered curving scarp. From the SW edge of this space, a slight grass-covered rise (Wth c. 2m; H 0.3m) zig-zags toward the cashel wall at W. Ephemeral features and changes of level in the E and S of the interior suggest other divisions but have no coherent pattern and are difficult to interpret. Some or all of these features may relate to modification/reuse of the enclosure in the relatively recent past. There is a souterrain (MA093-006002-) in the interior (pers. comm. Leo Morahan).
The cashel has been incorporated into a later system of field walls which radiate from the cashel wall at SW, NW E and SE, and the cashel interior space now serves as a pasture field.
Clumps of blackthorn and hazel occur at intervals around the perimeter, densest at SW–W. The interior is grassy, dotted with thistles and ferns, with encroachment of blackthorn scrub at W and SE.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 14 June 2022