Ringfort (Rath), Dalystown Demesne, Co. Galway

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Dalystown Demesne, Co. Galway

Tucked into low-lying woodland on the Dalystown Demesne in County Galway, this early medieval enclosure sits quietly beneath its canopy of planted trees, largely unannounced and easy to overlook.

It is a rath, a type of ringfort consisting of an earthen bank and surrounding ditch that once enclosed a farmstead or high-status dwelling, typically dating from the period between roughly 500 and 1000 AD. What makes this one quietly absorbing is the degree to which its original form can still be traced through the undergrowth.

The enclosure is subcircular in plan, measuring approximately 58 metres east to west and 41.5 metres north to south, which places it at a reasonable size for its type. Its defences follow the standard rath arrangement: an inner scarp, an intervening fosse (the ditch), and an outer bank beyond that. Sections of the fosse remain visible from the north-west around to the north-east, and again from the east around to the south-west, meaning a good portion of the circuit can still be read in the landscape. The outer bank has survived along the northern arc, from north-north-west to north-east. At the northern side there is a gap roughly three metres wide that may represent the original causewayed entrance, a raised crossing over the ditch that would have served as the formal approach into the enclosed interior. The interior itself is now planted with trees, which both obscures and, in its way, preserves what lies beneath.

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Pete F
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