Ringfort (Rath), Ringstown, Co. Westmeath

Co. Westmeath |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Ringstown, Co. Westmeath

In a patch of poorly drained grassland in County Westmeath, a circle roughly thirty metres across marks the ghost of something that once stood above the ground.

No earthwork survives to speak of; what remains is an outline, visible not to the eye on the ground but in aerial imagery taken between 2011 and 2013, where the faint crop or soil difference betrays a levelled or heavily degraded monument beneath the surface.

The site is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead typically built during the early medieval period, between roughly the fifth and twelfth centuries. Ringforts were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, usually consisting of a circular area defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, enclosing a house and associated outbuildings. This particular example in Ringstown has lost its visible structure almost entirely, reduced to a faint circular trace in the landscape. It sits in poor agricultural ground, which may partly account for its neglect, and it appears on the Ordnance Survey Ireland twenty-five inch map as a circular feature, suggesting it was at least partially legible at the time of that survey. A second ringfort survives in better condition approximately 360 metres to the west, which hints that this part of Westmeath once supported a modest concentration of early medieval activity.

Because the monument has been levelled or degraded to the point where little is visible at ground level, there is little to observe on a casual visit without aerial reference. The site's existence is essentially confirmed through overhead imagery rather than anything a walker would easily notice in the field.

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), Ringstown, Co. Westmeath. 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