Ringfort (Cashel), Carricknahorna, Co. Donegal

Co. Donegal |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Cashel), Carricknahorna, Co. Donegal

In the rocky pastures of Carricknahorna, County Donegal, the remnants of an ancient cashel sit on the western edge of a limestone ridge.

This circular stone enclosure, measuring roughly 20 metres north to south and 19 metres east to west, offers commanding views across the surrounding landscape; from its elevated position, you can see undulating pastures stretching southwest to northwest, with marshland visible to the northwest. To the north and east, a gently rolling karst plateau extends outward, whilst higher hills rise in the distance to the north and east-southeast.

What remains today is largely a collapsed and robbed-out structure, its original drystone walls now reduced to low, moss-covered banks of stone. These remnants vary considerably in width, from about 3 metres on the northern and northeastern sections to 5 or 6 metres on the southeastern side. A clearer section of wall footings on the eastern side suggests the original wall was about 2 metres thick. The southwestern to northwestern curve of the outer wall face follows the natural break of slope at the ridge's edge, where a later north-south field wall now overlies the ancient structure.

Several gaps punctuate the remaining walls; narrow breaks appear at the south (1 metre wide) and northwest (2 metres wide), whilst another opening on the eastern side is partially blocked by a later rectangular vernacular building measuring 4 by 5 metres, built directly into the cashel's outer rubble face. Intriguingly, a low bank of loose rubble and large stones curves from southeast to south about 3 metres outside the main wall, meeting an existing field wall at the southwest. Whether this represents the remains of an outer defensive wall or simply a later field boundary that followed the cashel's curve remains uncertain, adding another layer of mystery to this ancient fortification.

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