Ringfort (Rath), Carrowloughan, Co. Sligo
Co. Sligo |
Ringforts
Most ringforts are circular, a fact so consistent across early medieval Ireland that the rectangular outline at Carrowloughan immediately sets this one apart.
Sitting on a broad rise in gently undulating pasture in County Sligo, the enclosure measures roughly 32 metres north to south and 26 metres east to west, its perimeter defined by a narrow bank of earth and stone. A ringfort, or rath, was typically a farmstead of the early medieval period, its enclosing bank offering a degree of protection for livestock and family rather than serious military defence. This one is modest in scale but carries its own quiet curiosity.
The bank itself is about 2.2 metres wide and stands internally to just under a metre in height. What distinguishes the south-western to west-north-western stretch is the internal revetment, where upright limestone slabs have been laid flat against the bank's inner face to help hold it in place, a detail that suggests some care in construction. There is no fosse, the surrounding ditch that commonly accompanies such banks, visible at ground level, which may reflect the site's topographic position or simply centuries of gradual levelling. The bank has not survived uniformly; from the north-west around to the north-east, and again from east to south-east, it has been absorbed into later field boundaries, its material repurposed by farmers working the same land across successive generations. A wide gap on the southern side, roughly 6.5 metres across, is thought to represent the original entrance to the enclosure.