Ringfort (Cashel), Ballyallaban, Co. Clare

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Cashel), Ballyallaban, Co. Clare

On the limestone plateau of the Burren in County Clare, a substantial stone enclosure sits just twenty-two metres south of another ancient fortification, Cahermore, making this a rare instance of two cashels in such close proximity.

The area has been reclaimed by scrub, and loose stones are scattered across an interior that rises slightly toward its centre, giving the place a quietly unsettled quality, as though the ground itself is still settling after centuries of abandonment.

A cashel is a type of ringfort defined by a stone wall rather than an earthen bank or ditch, and this example is a considerable one. The enclosure is roughly subcircular, measuring approximately 30.7 metres north to south and 31.8 metres east to west internally, with walls ranging between two and 2.6 metres thick, constructed from large limestone blocks and boulders characteristic of the Burren landscape. The most revealing section is at the south-southwest, where the outer wall face still stands to a height of 2.1 metres and shows evidence of external base batter, meaning the wall was built with a slight outward lean at its base to increase stability and resistance. Elsewhere the stonework has collapsed into a loose spread, though the outer face remains discernible along the eastern arc at heights between 0.5 and 0.8 metres. An irregular break on the eastern side is thought to mark the original entrance. A low external bank survives along the northern arc from northwest to northeast, and at the northern interior a possible house site abuts the enclosing wall, suggesting domestic occupation within the defended space at some point in the structure's use.

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