Castle - ringwork

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated at the NW end of a large ridge, in pasture, with good views of the surrounding landscape, except to SE where overlooked by Knockdomny Hill. A ringfort (WM030-074----) lies c. 140m to NNE and a ringfort (WM030-072----) lies c. 195m to W. Depicted on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map as a substantial roughly circular-shaped earthwork (approx. overall dims. 108m NW-SE; 104m NE-SW). Cox (1969, 12) indicates that this monument was an O’ Melaghlin seat and it was known down to recent times as “King Malachy’s Fort” and was situated on the boundary between two townlands.
Monument described in 1975 as a large circular-shaped area defined by an inner bank, an intervening fosse, a berm, an outer bank and an outer fosse. The inner bank is best preserved from S-SW-W and is steeper and higher on the exterior from NW-N-NE-ENE. There is an intervening fosse and a wide level berm (Wth c. 7-10m). There is a low outer bank and an outer fosse. A causeway entrance is at NE and is defined by a stone-faced passage upslope to the inner bank. The interior (approx. dims. 36m NW-SE; 32m NE-SW) is quite uneven rising towards the centre. The monument is bisected by a drystone wall running NW-SE which forms a townland boundary. The site is densely overgrown with impenetrable vegetation and is difficult to examine. Monument is visible today as a substantial tree-planted earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography.

A Preservation Order was placed on this monument on 10/04/1984 (SMR file).

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

Date of upload: 08 November 2019

References

Cox, L. 1969 Íseal Chiaráin, the low place of St. Ciarán, where was it situated. Journal of the Old Athlone Society 1, 6-14.