Ringfort (Rath), Grange More, Co. Sligo
Co. Sligo |
Ringforts
What makes this ringfort in Grange More quietly worth attention is a detail that only becomes apparent when you walk its perimeter: the enclosing bank is almost flush with the interior ground on the inside, yet drops away steeply on the outside, reaching a height of 1.8 metres on the southern arc.
Most visitors to Irish raths expect a pronounced raised rim from within, but here the effect is inverted, giving the enclosed area the quality of a platform rather than a bowl.
A rath is an earthen ringfort, typically dating from the early medieval period in Ireland, and used as a defended farmstead or high-status enclosure. This example is broadly subcircular, measuring roughly 43.7 metres east to west and 39.5 metres north to south, with the enclosing bank running to about 4 metres in width. It sits on a south-east-facing slope above a substantial river, a position that would have offered both drainage and outlook. The interior is largely level, with a very slight rise at its centre. On the northern side, where the interior sits lowest relative to the surrounding ground, there is a gap of around 2.5 to 3 metres in the bank, likely the site of the original entrance into the enclosure.
A farm track runs along the western side of the rath, which means the earthwork is approachable at ground level without cutting across open fields. The pronounced external slope is best appreciated from the southern and northern ends of the circuit, where the contrast between the shallow interior face and the steep outer drop is most visible.