Ringfort (Rath), Gallgort, Co. Mayo
Co. Mayo |
Ringforts
On an east-facing slope in Gallgort, County Mayo, a roughly circular earthwork sits quietly in pasture, its double-bank arrangement hinting at an occupant who wanted, or perhaps needed, more than the usual degree of enclosure.
Most raths, the ringforts that once served as enclosed farmsteads throughout early medieval Ireland, were defended by a single earthen bank and ditch. This one was built with two concentric banks separated by an intervening fosse, a ditch dug to deepen the defensive profile, with a further external fosse running from the south-east around to the west. That level of effort was not typical of every farming family.
The enclosure measures roughly 37 metres north to south and 39 metres east to west, making it a reasonably substantial example of its type. The inner bank still stands to about 1.8 metres in places, though it has been levelled across the northern to east-south-eastern arc and shows signs of quarrying, suggesting the earthwork has been raided at some point for material. The outer bank has been more severely disturbed along the north-north-east to south-east stretch. Despite the damage, the site retains enough structure to read its original form, including what appears to be an entrance gap on the south-east, just 1.4 metres wide, and a second gap on the north-west where a narrow causeway, roughly 1.9 metres across, would once have bridged the fosse. Causeways of this kind are a fairly common feature of Irish ringforts, allowing controlled passage across the defensive ditch without dismantling it entirely. The site was documented in an archaeological survey of the Ballinrobe district compiled by D. Lavelle and published in 1994, and it has held a preservation order since 1957, placing it under the protection of the National Monuments Acts.