Ringfort (Rath), Ballindrehid, Co. Mayo

Co. Mayo |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Ballindrehid, Co. Mayo

The eastern entrance to this Mayo ringfort is still legible after more than a thousand years.

The gap in the inner bank, two metres wide, retains a facing of stone slabs that extends across the fosse and splays slightly outward, as though gesturing visitors inward. A stone kerb runs along the inner edge of the bank on either side of that opening. It is an unusually well-preserved detail for a monument that has otherwise been absorbed, partially and unevenly, into the working landscape around it.

A rath is an early medieval enclosure, typically circular, defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches and understood to have served as a farmstead for a family of some local standing. This one sits in undulating pasture near Ballindrehid, positioned at a break of slope where the ground falls gently southward towards the Trimoge River, roughly 165 metres away. The enclosure measures approximately 35 metres across and is defined by a bank and an outer fosse, a ditch designed both for drainage and defence, with an outer bank beyond that. What makes this particular rath a little puzzling is the inconsistency between its eastern and western halves. On the north-east to south arc, the fosse is broad and flat-based, around three metres wide, and the outer bank is substantial, though it has been absorbed into a later field wall along the north-south stretch. On the western half, by contrast, the fosse narrows to a single metre and grows shallow, with a low bank and what appears to be a further gap or secondary fosse beyond it. Whether this asymmetry reflects original design or accumulated modification over centuries of agricultural use remains an open question.

The interior has its own quiet strangeness. Hawthorn, hazel, and lime trees ring both banks, and blackthorn scrub and brambles have claimed the inside, making close inspection difficult. Beneath that thicket on the western side, several small quarry pits have been dug into the ground, their edges complicated further by badger activity. Near the south-west of this disturbed area, a shallow depression marked by large stones and protruding slabs may indicate a collapsed souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage or chamber typically used in early medieval Ireland for storage or refuge. If that identification is correct, it would add another layer to a site that is already, in its visible fabric, considerably more complex than a simple grass-covered ring in a Mayo 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), Ballindrehid, Co. Mayo. 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