Ringfort, Carheenshowagh, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Ringforts

Ringfort, Carheenshowagh, Co. Galway

On a low hillock in the grasslands of north Galway, a roughly oval enclosure sits so quietly that it barely interrupts the landscape at all.

What was once a substantial cashel, a type of ringfort defined by a drystone wall rather than an earthen bank, has collapsed and grassed over to the point where its outline is more felt than seen. The wall, which enclosed an area measuring roughly 44.5 metres northwest to southeast and 39 metres northeast to southwest, is now little more than a broad, lumpy ridge of turf-covered rubble.

Cashels of this kind were typically built during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and served as enclosed farmsteads for a single family or small household. The drystone construction, fitting stone to stone without mortar, was common in areas of Connacht where good building stone was plentiful and timber was not. Inside this particular enclosure, a cluster of grassed-over stones survives just north of centre, possibly the remains of an interior structure such as a house or outbuilding, though without excavation their precise purpose is difficult to establish. Immediately to the north-northeast, a relict field system survives in association with the cashel, suggesting this was once part of a wider agricultural landscape that has since been absorbed into modern grassland.

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