Ringfort, Carrowmore, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Ringforts
What makes this particular earthwork quietly interesting is not just what it is, but what sits beside it.
Within fifty metres to the north-west lies another ringfort entirely, the two structures occupying the same stretch of north Galway landscape in a proximity that raises questions about how and why early medieval communities organised themselves across the land.
The site itself is a rath, the most common type of ringfort in Ireland, typically a circular enclosure defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, used as a farmstead or high-status residence during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. This example measures just under twenty-seven metres in diameter and is defined by two banks with a fosse, that is, a ditch, running between them. That double-bank arrangement places it among the more substantial examples of its type, suggesting it may once have belonged to someone of local importance. The fosse and banks are best preserved along the southern and western arc, running from the south-south-east through west to north-west, while a gap of about two and a half metres on the eastern side may represent the original entrance. The whole is densely overgrown, which both obscures and, in its way, protects the underlying earthworks.