Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a high natural rise, in gently undulating pasture, with good views in all directions. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a hexagonal-shaped earthwork and on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a D-shaped earthwork (approx. dims. 66m WNW-ESE; 46m NNE-SSW). Monument described in 1970 as a subrectangular-shaped earthwork enclosed by two widely-spaced, steep scarps. The inner scarp (H c. 1.1m) has no traces of a bank, yet the outer scarp has vague suggestions of having had a bank. A modern fence runs E-W across the N sector, cutting through the perimeter of the monument at NW and NE. There is no trace of the monument to N of the fence, where the scarps are levelled from NW-N-NE. There is no intervening fosse, but an outer fosse is visible from SW-S-E, which is best preserved from SE-E, yet is disturbed in places by old quarry depressions. The original entrance is not visible. The interior rises appreciably from the perimeter towards the centre and has definite traces of cultivation ridges running NW-SE. Monument is visible as a roughly D-shaped, partially tree-planted earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography.

Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien.

Date of upload: 08 July 2019