Ringfort (Rath), Tirhomin, Co. Donegal

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Tirhomin, Co. Donegal

In the rolling pastures of County Donegal, what appears on old Ordnance Survey maps as 'Ballyboe Fort' tells a curious tale of archaeological mistaken identity.

This ringfort, sitting on a low east-west ridge in Tirhomin, was somehow misread as 'Ballyboe Altar' in earlier documentation, leading scholars Killanin and Duignan to classify it as a prehistoric chamber tomb in their 1962 and 1967 publications. It wasn't until Brian Lacy's work in 1983 that the site was correctly identified for what it truly is; a ringfort, one of Ireland's most common early medieval settlement types.

Today, the fort presents itself as a flat-topped platform measuring approximately 40 metres north to south and 32 metres east to west, though its eastern side has suffered partial levelling over the years. The platform rises between one and two and a half metres above the surrounding undulating pasture land, with only the faintest traces of what would have been its perimeter bank still visible in places. A modern field boundary now cuts through the site from north to south along its eastern edge, further obscuring its original form.

This case of archaeological confusion serves as a reminder of how easily historical sites can be misinterpreted, particularly when relying solely on map evidence. The ringfort, catalogued in the Sites and Monuments Record as 27:30, represents the type of defended farmstead that once dotted the Irish landscape during the early medieval period, typically housing a single extended family and their livestock within its protective banks and ditches.

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