Ringfort (Cashel), Russaun, Co. Galway

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Cashel), Russaun, Co. Galway

On a ridge in the grassland of Russaun, a roughly circular enclosure sits quietly in the landscape, its drystone walls long since collapsed and softened by centuries of grass growth.

This is a cashel, a type of ringfort built from stone rather than earth and timber, and it measures approximately 22 metres east to west and just over 20 metres north to south. That combination of ridge-top position and drystone construction places it within a recognisable tradition of early medieval settlement in the west of Ireland, where such enclosures typically served as farmsteads for a single family or small community, their circular walls providing both a boundary and a degree of protection for livestock and household.

The wall itself survives in fair condition, though it presents differently depending on where you approach. From the south around to the north-west, it has settled into a low, grass-covered mound, more felt than seen in the landscape. A gap on the east-south-east side looks to be a modern intrusion rather than an original entrance, which is a common enough occurrence with sites like this, where local need or simple convenience has quietly altered what centuries of abandonment left behind. Several mature trees have taken root both inside the enclosure and along the outer face of the wall, their root systems now part of the archaeology whether anyone intended that or not.

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Pete F
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