Ringfort (Rath), Bunacrower, Co. Mayo
Co. Mayo |
Ringforts
What makes this particular earthwork quietly compelling is that it does not stand alone.
Sitting in pastureland near Bunacrower in County Mayo, this roughly circular ringfort, a rath being the Irish term for a farmstead enclosure of the early medieval period typically defined by one or more earthen banks, is one of at least three such features clustered in close proximity, with further examples recorded to the north-east and to the east. That kind of grouping suggests not an isolated household but something more like a settled agricultural community, its members living and farming within sight of one another across the same landscape.
The enclosure itself measures approximately 36 metres north to south and 32 metres east to west, making it a fairly modest example of the type. Its defining bank survives to around half a metre in height, which is modest enough to be easy to overlook, and the north-eastern section has been disturbed by quarrying at some point. Inside, the ground retains the corrugated texture of old cultivation ridges alongside exposed rock outcrop, physical traces of the agricultural work that once took place within the enclosed space. The site may also connect to a broader field system recorded in the same area, which would reinforce the picture of organised, small-scale farming across this part of Mayo. The survey of Ballinrobe and its surrounding district, including the shores of Lough Mask and Lough Carra, compiled by D. Lavelle and published in 1994, recorded this site as part of a wider effort to document the archaeological landscape of that corner of Connacht.