Ringfort (Rath), Monumentpark, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Ringforts
What makes this site quietly arresting is the coincidence of two ringforts sitting within 150 metres of each other in the townland of Monumentpark, suggesting that this corner of north Galway was once a place of some local significance.
The one in question here is the more battered of the pair, its circular outline still legible on the ground but only just.
A rath is an earthen ringfort, typically dating from the early medieval period, roughly 500 to 1000 AD, built as a defended farmstead for a family of some standing. They are defined by a raised bank and, in many cases, an external fosse, which is a ditch dug to reinforce the barrier. This example measures around 32 metres across on its northwest to southeast axis, and the fosse and bank survive in places. There is a possible entrance gap on the northeastern side, which would be consistent with the orientation favoured at many such sites. The damage, however, is considerable. Quarrying has eaten into the enclosing elements from the north and northeast, and again from the south around to the west, leaving the monument fragmentary and the original circuit incomplete.