Ringfort, Bunnahevelly More, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Ringforts
A circular stone enclosure sitting on a low rise in the grasslands of north Galway, this cashel at Bunnahevelly More measures fifty metres in diameter and retains much of its drystone perimeter wall, making it one of the more legible examples of its type in the area.
A cashel is essentially a ringfort built from stone rather than earth and timber, the preferred technique in regions where loose stone was more readily available than deep, workable soil. What makes this particular site quietly unsettling is the tension between its relative preservation and the visible intrusions upon it: several gaps in the wall appear to be of modern origin, field clearance has obscured the outer face of the wall on the south-western side, and the interior has been partly bulldozed, leaving a structure that reads simultaneously as ancient and interfered with.
Ringforts of this kind were typically constructed during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and served as enclosed farmsteads for individual family units rather than as defensive strongholds in any military sense. The drystone walling technique, which requires no mortar, relies entirely on the careful selection and placement of stones to achieve stability, and walls built in this way can survive for centuries if left undisturbed. That the outer wall-face at Bunnahevelly More has been compromised by field clearance, the practice of gathering loose stone from surrounding land and piling it against existing structures, is a common enough story across the Irish landscape, where agricultural convenience has long competed with archaeological integrity. A further enclosure lies approximately eighty metres to the south-west, suggesting that this part of the townland may once have supported a small cluster of related activity rather than a single isolated site.