Ringfort (Rath), Ballinrooaun, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Ballinrooaun, Co. Galway

In the level grassland of Ballinrooaun, a large circle in the ground is quietly disappearing.

The rath here is what archaeologists call poorly preserved, meaning most of what once made it legible as a structure has been lost to centuries of farming, weathering, and time. Only portions of its original form survive above the surface.

A rath is a type of ringfort, an enclosed circular settlement typically dating from the early medieval period in Ireland, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. They were built in enormous numbers across the country, and thousands still survive in varying states of completeness. This particular example is subcircular in plan, measuring approximately 37.8 metres on its north-northwest to south-southeast axis and 34 metres across from northeast to southwest. What remains is a bank running from the north-northwest around through the east to the southwest, and an external fosse, essentially a surrounding ditch, tracing an arc from the southeast through the south and back to the northwest. Together these two elements describe most of a circuit, though no surface trace survives to complete it. The impression is of something unfinished, or more accurately, of something once whole that the land has slowly reclaimed.

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Pete F
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