Ringfort (Rath), Towerhill Demesne, Co. Mayo
Co. Mayo |
Ringforts
In a stretch of rough, undulating pasture on the Towerhill Demesne in County Mayo, a low oval mound sits quietly at the edge of a large forestry block, its earthen bank so heavily overgrown that it could easily pass for a natural feature of the landscape.
That ambiguity is part of what makes it interesting: the site is classified only as a possible ringfort, meaning it carries the shape and dimensions of one without yet yielding the kind of confirming evidence that would settle the question.
A ringfort, sometimes called a rath, was the most common type of early medieval farmstead in Ireland, typically consisting of a circular area enclosed by one or more earthen banks and ditches, within which a family would have lived and kept livestock. This example measures roughly 23.5 metres north to south and 32 metres east to west, making it a reasonably substantial oval. Its surviving bank stands only about 0.8 metres high, worn down over centuries of agricultural use and now softened further by vegetation. The site was recorded in D. Lavelle's archaeological survey of the Ballinrobe district, published in 1994 by the Lough Mask and Lough Carra Tourist Development Association, which catalogued the area's less prominent monuments alongside its better-known features.