Ringfort, Ballylennan, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Ringforts

Ringfort, Ballylennan, Co. Galway

Beneath the floor of this Galway ringfort, a blocked passage leads nowhere that any visitor is likely to go.

The landowner filled in the entrance to what appears to be a souterrain, an underground stone-lined tunnel typically associated with early medieval settlement and used for storage or as a place of refuge, in the south-western quadrant of the interior. That act of closure, practical and unremarkable from a farming perspective, quietly sealed off a feature that might otherwise have added considerably to what can be understood about how this site was once used.

The ringfort itself sits in gently undulating farmland and measures roughly 45 metres in diameter, placing it comfortably within the range typical of early medieval enclosed settlements, which were built across Ireland from around the fifth to the twelfth century. It is defined by two banks with an intervening fosse, that is, a ditch dug between them, an arrangement that would have created a more formidable boundary than a single earthwork alone. The construction is mixed: the inner bank is earthen, while the outer is built mainly of stone, suggesting either different phases of construction or the practical use of whatever materials were locally available. A field wall cuts through the monument at both the north-west and south-east, a common fate for ringforts that have been absorbed over centuries into working agricultural land. A gap in the northern section of the inner bank is considered modern, likely a later convenience for livestock or machinery rather than the original entrance.

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Pete F
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