This one, in rough pasture at Derrysallagh in County Sligo, sits on the south-eastern end of a drumlin, one of those smooth, elongated hills left behind by retreating glaciers, and it asks for a certain patience from the eye before it resolves itself into something purposeful.

A rath is an earthen ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead built throughout Ireland roughly between the early centuries AD and the early medieval period. Where a stone equivalent would announce itself clearly, a rath relies on modest rises and dips in the ground. At Derrysallagh, the enclosure is roughly circular, measuring around 23 metres by 19 metres, and is defined by an earthen bank about 2.4 metres wide. The bank stands only 0.2 metres above the interior ground level, though it rises to 0.7 metres on the outside, which gives a better sense of its original intention as a boundary and modest barrier. Along the southern arc the bank has been levelled, whether by farming activity or simple time it is difficult to say. On the western arc, an external fosse, a shallow ditch, is still traceable; it measures 2.4 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep. The combination of bank and fosse is entirely typical of the form, designed to mark territory, manage livestock, and signal the presence of a household rather than to provide serious military defence.