Earthwork, Breanletter, Co. Roscommon

Co. Roscommon |

Ritual/Ceremonial

Earthwork, Breanletter, Co. Roscommon

On a north-east-facing slope of Ballyfermoyle Hill in County Roscommon, something has almost entirely ceased to exist.

An earthwork once substantial enough to be recorded as a circular feature roughly thirty metres in diameter on the first Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1837 has since contracted, in the cartographic record at least, to a mere fragment of a bank, and on the ground today it has vanished altogether beneath scrub and rough pasture.

The trajectory of its disappearance can be traced across two editions of the same map series. When the OS six-inch survey captured it in 1837, the feature read as a complete circle, suggesting an enclosure of some kind, possibly a ringfort or a similar type of enclosed settlement that was common across Ireland during the early medieval period. By the time the 1914 edition was drawn, only a curved bank of around twenty metres survived to be marked, situated to the south-west of where the original feature had been recorded. Whatever process had reduced it, whether agricultural clearance, erosion on that steep slope, or simply the steady encroachment of vegetation, the earthwork had lost both its legibility and, eventually, its visibility entirely.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Earthwork, Breanletter, Co. Roscommon. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement