Ringfort (Rath), Turlough, Co. Galway

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Turlough, Co. Galway

What makes this particular earthwork quietly compelling is not its size or drama, but its company.

Sitting in grassland at the edge of bogland in Turlough, County Galway, this subcircular rath measures roughly 32 metres east to west and 30 metres north to south, and it is not alone: a second ringfort lies approximately 180 metres to the north-east. Paired or clustered ringforts are not unheard of across the Irish landscape, and their proximity here raises the kind of questions that rarely get clean answers.

A rath is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, typically dated between the fifth and twelfth centuries, defined by one or more earthen banks and, in many cases, an external fosse, which is simply a ditch dug to reinforce the bank and mark the boundary of the enclosure. Here, the fosse survives along the southern arc, from the south-east around through the south to the west, while the bank itself is interrupted by several gaps that appear to be modern rather than original features. The structure is described as being in fair condition, which in field archaeology tends to mean still legible but showing its age, with the outline intact even if the detail has softened over centuries of weather, grazing, and occasional interference.

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