Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In good coastal grassland, 1km S of Ballysadare Bay; on elevated ground with a slope down to E.
This rath is not shown on any edition of the OS 6-inch maps. A modern stone wall on a NNE−SSW axis crosses the rath to W of centre, coinciding with the boundary between the townlands of Carrownacreey at W and Tanrego West at E. The portion of the rath to W of the wall is in a pasture field; it survives as a barely discernible D-shaped platform. The larger portion lying to E of the wall is in deciduous woodland, its outline largely obscured by widely spaced mature beech trees and a close-set planting of young oaks.
Circular area (diam. c. 45m) defined by a levelled bank/scarp. The levelled bank can be traced as a low rise (Wth c. 3m; int. H 0.1m; ext. H 0.3-0.4m) on the NE arc. It is reduced to a low, uneven scarp (H 0.5m) on the SE−SW arc, becoming increasingly indistinct at W−NW, petering out at NNW−N (on the W side of the transecting wall), where it fades into a small area of wettish ground. There is an uneven sunken break (Wth c. 6m) in the scarp at E, which appears to have been partly dug out/disturbed in the modern era, and another break (Wth c. 2.4m) in the scarp at S.
A shallow depression (Wth 2-2.5m) immediately outside the scarp at S may indicate a fosse but cannot be traced elsewhere.
To W of the transecting wall, the interior is level; it is grass-covered with ephemeral E-W linear features, possibly relict cultivation ridges. To E of the wall, the interior slopes gradually down to E and has an uneven surface, broken by a few large boulders; a post and wire fence extends to E from the N-S wall across the S half. An area of disturbance is evident in the N half, a mature tree stands adjacent to this, at the base of which is a concentration of moss-covered stones.
There is a souterrain (SL019-264002-) in the N half of the interior, close to the enclosing bank in the NE quadrant.
Relict field boundaries intersect with the rath at SW and E, and appear to post-date it.

Attached images:
SL019-264001-_01.JPG E portion of rath viewed from S
SL019-264001-_02.JPG E portion of rath viewed from SW
SL019-264001-_03.JPG W portion of rath viewed from SE

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 3 March 2023