Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In average pasture, in undulating terrain. Prominently sited on the level top of a low ridge, with a gentle fall of ground to W−NW towards an expanse of flat, lowlying wettish land (partly reclaimed), bordering the River Robe which is c. 300m to W. There are good views, especially extensive W−N over the flood plain.
A circular area (82.4m N−S; 80m E−W) defined by a flat-topped bank (Wth 4-5m, top 1.2m; int. H 0.35-0.7m; ext. H 1.5-1.6m). A section (L c. 45m) of the bank at WSW−NNW has been levelled, its curve now evident as a cropmark, and a portion of the bank at NNW−N has been dug away, leaving an elongated quarry pit (L 22m ENE-WSW; Wth 9m; D 0.5-0.7m). A NNE−SSW field wall, now levelled, clipped the external face of the bank at NW.
There is a hint of a depression (Wth 3.5-4m) immediately outside the bank on the SW arc, which might indicate a fosse, but it is not evident elsewhere around the circuit.
The original entrance may have been at NNE where there is a gap (Wth 3.5m) in the bank, with expanded inward curving terminals. Two low-profile linear features (W rise 3.5m; H 0.1-0.3m; E rise Wth 4.6m; H 0.3m), possibly levelled banks, extend from the bank terminals through the interior to SSW. They are roughly parallel, with an intervening gap of 7.5-8m. Both extend beneath the NW−SE field wall that crosses the interior, and peter out in the centre of the rath interior –it is unclear if they ever fully bisected the interior. The E linear rise has an expanded terminal (Wth c. 7m) at its SSW end.
There is another broad break (Wth 8.5m) at E, slighted on its N side by a field wall on a NW−SE axis that crosses the rath, slightly NE of centre. Elsewhere around the circuit, the bank is broken by several small gaps eroded by farm stock.
The interior has a slight slope down to SSE.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 1 December 2022