Ringfort (Rath), Weston, Co. Galway

Co. Galway |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Weston, Co. Galway

A field in County Galway still carries the name 'ring field', even though the earthwork that gave it that name has all but vanished.

The rath here, an oval enclosure roughly 45 metres by 40 metres, was once substantial enough to be mapped on the third edition of the Ordnance Survey six-inch sheet in 1915, shown planted with trees and sitting within the former demesne of Weston House. A rath, or ringfort, is a circular or oval enclosure defined by an earthen bank and outer ditch, the standard form of enclosed farmstead in early medieval Ireland. Sometime in the early 1960s, however, someone levelled the bank and used the spoil to fill the fosse, the surrounding ditch, effectively erasing the monument's physical profile in a single agricultural operation.

What remained afterwards was stranger and, in its own way, more interesting. When archaeologists visited in November 1984, the rath had become legible only as a band of darker vegetation, roughly three metres wide, curving from south through west to north. The differential growth, likely caused by deeper or damper soil where the fosse had been filled, was tracing the monument's outline through the grass decades after the earthwork itself had gone. A possible souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage often associated with ringforts and used for storage or concealment, was also identified within the interior. On re-inspection in October 2001, the faint oval, measuring 43 metres east to west and 41 metres north to south, was still perceptible, and traces of the fosse and outer bank survived along the south-south-west to west arc. The site lies just 80 metres north-north-east of a second enclosure, suggesting a broader pattern of early settlement in this part of north Galway that the landscape still faintly preserves.

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), Weston, Co. Galway. 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