Ringfort (Rath), Gerrib Little, Co. Sligo

Co. Sligo |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Gerrib Little, Co. Sligo

In a field in Gerrib Little, County Sligo, the ground holds the memory of an enclosure that most passing walkers would not register at all.

The site is a rath, a type of ringfort that once served as a farmstead and enclosed homestead during early medieval Ireland, typically ringed by one or more earthen banks and ditches to define territory and provide a modest degree of security. This particular example has been largely levelled, leaving behind only a subtle oval rise in the pasture and the faint logic of its original geometry.

What survives is an oval platform measuring roughly 43.5 metres east to west and approximately 38.5 metres north to south, edged by a low scarp that drops between five centimetres and fifty-five centimetres. Along the upper edge of that scarp, the ghost of a bank is still just readable in the ground. Below it, on the southern, eastern, and north-eastern sides, a shallow fosse, the encircling ditch that would originally have complemented the bank, remains identifiable. It is about 4.5 metres wide and only 0.2 metres deep, much of its original form having been smoothed away by centuries of agriculture. The original entrance has been lost entirely. There is no opening, no worn threshold, no surviving trace of where people once moved in and out of this small defended world.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Ringfort (Rath), Gerrib Little, Co. Sligo. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement