Ringfort (Rath), Rathroeen, Co. Mayo

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Rathroeen, Co. Mayo

Two ringforts sit within roughly 150 metres of each other in the rough, wettish pasture of Rathroeen in County Mayo, separated by a stream running through the low ground between them.

The more prominent of the two occupies higher ground to the south-east, but it is the lower, less conspicuous example that rewards closer attention. A ringfort, or rath, is an enclosed farmstead of early medieval Ireland, typically circular or oval, defined by earthen banks and ditches and once home to a farming family and their livestock. This one settles into its landscape quietly, sitting on a low rise and measuring roughly 30 metres east to west and 25 metres north to south.

What survives is a raised oval platform defined by a scarp with an external height of around 1.6 metres, with a slightly raised internal rim and an outer fosse, the ditch that would have reinforced the enclosure's defensive and boundary function. Most of that fosse has silted and settled into a shallow depression over the centuries, but a short section of about five metres at the south-east survives to a depth of 0.6 metres, noticeably more legible than the rest. On the eastern side, a gap of roughly two and a half to three metres in the bank may mark the original entrance, and a slight rise in the fosse at that point could be what remains of a causeway crossing. Inside, the eastern half of the enclosure holds further traces of occupation: a rectangular raised area, slightly off-centre to the south-east, and at its eastern end the faint outline of what may have been a rectangular hut. A low field bank running north to south across the eastern edge of the interior adds another layer of accumulated use, though its relationship to the original enclosure is not certain. A few hawthorn trees cling to the north-western perimeter, the only vegetation besides grass cover on the earthworks themselves.

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