Barrow (Ring Barrow), Deerpark, Co. Mayo

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Barrow (Ring Barrow), Deerpark, Co. Mayo

On a piece of elevated pasture in Deerpark, County Mayo, a low circular mound sits quietly in a field, its true age and purpose easy to overlook from a distance.

What looks at first like a natural undulation in the ground is in fact a ring barrow, a type of prehistoric funerary monument in which a central mound is encircled by a ditch, known as a fosse, and an outer earthen bank. These structures are generally associated with the Bronze Age, raised over the remains of the dead at a time when burial ritual and landscape were deeply intertwined.

The mound here measures roughly 12.5 metres north to south and 11.4 metres east to west, making it a modest but well-proportioned example of the type. The surrounding fosse reaches about 0.6 metres in depth, and the external bank stands to around 0.9 metres in height. The ground slopes away to the east, giving the monument a quietly commanding position over its surroundings. The northern section of the bank shows some disturbance from animal burrowing, and vegetation has crept across the site from the south-west round to the north, softening its outlines further. These details come from a local archaeological survey compiled by D. Lavelle and published in 1994 as part of a study of Ballinrobe and its district, taking in the landscapes around Lough Mask and Lough Carra.

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Pete F
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