Ringfort (Cashel), Cahernaglass, Co. Galway

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Cashel), Cahernaglass, Co. Galway

In a field in Cahernaglass in County Galway, a stretch of collapsed stonework marks what was once a cashel, a type of ringfort enclosed by a drystone wall rather than an earthen bank.

What makes this particular site quietly interesting is precisely how little of it remains visible. The wall has fallen so completely that a significant arc running from the south-west to the west-north-west has left no surface trace at all, and a later field boundary has been built directly over the eastern and southern portions of the original enclosure, absorbing the ancient structure into the ordinary working geometry of the landscape.

The cashel is oval in plan, measuring roughly 36.5 metres east to west and 33.9 metres north to south. Cashels of this kind were typically built during the early medieval period in Ireland, functioning as enclosed farmsteads for a single family or extended household, the drystone wall serving as both a boundary marker and a degree of protection for livestock. At Cahernaglass, the collapse of the wall and its partial overwriting by agricultural use means the site now requires some patience to read. A second ringfort lies immediately to the south, which suggests this was once a more densely settled patch of ground than its current quiet grassland appearance would suggest, two enclosures in close proximity pointing to a community or a continuity of occupation that the surface today does very little to advertise.

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Pete F
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