Ringfort (Rath), Newtown, Co. Mayo

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Newtown, Co. Mayo

There is a ringfort in Newtown, County Mayo, that has effectively ceased to exist, yet continues to be recorded.

What was once a circular earthwork enclosure, somewhere between thirty and thirty-five metres in diameter, has been levelled so completely that a person walking across the field would notice nothing more than a very slight ripple in the ground beneath their feet. The archaeology is gone in any practical sense, and yet the site endures in the historical record, and one small trace of its original geometry persists in an unexpected form.

A rath, as ringforts of this type are known, was a circular enclosed settlement, typically of early medieval date, defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches. This particular example appeared on Ordnance Survey six-inch maps as early as 1838, depicted as a circular embanked enclosure, and it was still legible on the 1930 edition. The more detailed twenty-five inch plan showed a more complex structure, with two banks separated by an intervening fosse, a shallow ditch between them. At some point in the intervening decades, agricultural improvement of the pasture removed all of that. What survived the levelling is the field fence running along the southern side of the field. It describes a shallow arc, and that arc is not accidental; it follows the original curve of the outer southern bank, absorbed into the boundary line when the earthwork itself was cleared away. The fence, in other words, is doing quiet duty as a surrogate monument.

The site sits on a gentle west-facing slope just below the crest of a low north-to-south ridge, in land that is now improved pasture. For anyone prepared to look closely, the field boundary on the southern side traces the ghost of the enclosure's outer arc. The surface undulation is minimal, but knowing what was once here makes that slight irregularity worth seeking out.

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Pete F
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