Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, on a S-facing slope overlooking Lough Gara. A roughly circular area (35m N-S; 33.5m E-W) enclosed by an inner sod-covered drystone wall, an intervening fosse and an outer earth and stone bank. The inner wall (max. Wth 2m; H 1.6m) is evident all round though not of uniform width suggesting some rebuilding especially NE-ESE (Wth 1.4m). In places, most noticeably N-NE, the external face of the wall has collapsed outwards. There are narrow gaps in the wall at W (Wth 0.4m) and NE (Wth 0.6m). The outer enclosing element consists of a stony scarp (H 0.4m) N-NE, a bank (Wth 3m; int. H 0.25m; ext. H 0.4m) NE-S and a slight rise (Wth c. 2m) marked by bushes and ferns S-W. There are no visible remains of the outer bank or fosse W-N. The intervening fosse, which is evident N-W, is not noticeably sunken anywhere and from N-NE is a stony terrace (Wth c. 1.4m) covered by a surface spread of stone tumble and E-ESE is a level grassy strip (Wth 4m) marginally higher than the external ground level. The interior is mostly level and dotted with clumps of ferns, brambles and bushes and a moderate scattering of loose stones. The NW quadrant is slightly raised and defined by a slight scarp (H 0.3m) on NNE-SSW axis. In the NE quadrant, two roughly linear heaps of loose stones, at right angles to each other, generally define an area (c. 9m N-S; 9m E-W) of slightly sunken ground. Immediately to S, and just E of the centre of the cashel, is a roughly oval cairn (3m N-S; 4.6m E-W; max. H 0.9m) with a further linear concentration of stones (3.8m NNW-SSE; Wth 1.3m; H 0.3m) extending north-westwards from it. There is a souterrain (SL046-018003-) in the N half of the interior.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008