Lissawadda, Barnaboy, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Ringforts
On the summit of a low hillock in the rolling farmland of County Galway, a roughly circular earthwork sits in a state of quiet persistence.
It is the kind of feature that might read as a natural rise to the uninformed eye, but its geometry betrays deliberate construction. This is a rath, an enclosed farmstead or defended residence of early medieval Ireland, typically built between the fifth and twelfth centuries, formed here by two concentric earthen banks with a fosse, or ditch, running between them.
The enclosure measures approximately 44 metres east to west and 36 metres north to south, giving it a slightly oval rather than perfectly round footprint. The inner bank survives along the northern to eastern arc and again from the south around to the west, though in places the ground has slumped or eroded to leave only a scarp, a natural-looking slope that still traces the original line of the boundary. The outer bank and fosse are intact from the north around to the south-east, and again from the south-west to the north-west. A causeway crossing the fosse on the south-eastern side is present, though its origins are uncertain and it may well be a relatively recent addition rather than an original entrance feature. The site is described as being in fair condition, which for an earthwork of this age in agricultural land is no small thing.