What is recorded here

Thirty-six metres of packed earth and broken stone still stand on the Carrownaculla rise, marking a boundary where human ambition met raw Mayo weather. The eastern bank retains scattered stone facing, while the western slope surrenders to grass and shadow, suggesting the fort was never finished or has been deliberately forgotten. A narrow gap at the east leads across a shallow ditch into level ground now crowded with blackthorn, hazel and sycamore. It is not a palace, nor even a complete room; it is a circle drawn in soil, large enough to exclude most of the world and small enough to be lost inside it.

In pasture, located on a rise. Ground falls gradually to E towards a flat expanse of bog. There is a stream 270m to N. Slightly raised circular area (36.5m N−S; 36m E−W) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 4m; int. H 0.8m at E, 0.2m at W; ext. H 1.5m at E, 1.6m at W) with a pronounced external slope, outside which it is enclosed by a fosse (Wth 3.7m at E). The bank is best preserved on the E half, where remnants of internally and externally drystone facing are evident. The exterior stone facing rising to a height of c. 1m, but does not extend the full height of the bank slope; it is now largely tumbled. On the W half, the bank retains a low internal lip but has a pronounced external slope; there is scant trace of drystone facing, either internally or externally. The fosse is well defined at NE−SW, becoming shallow and less distinct at W; it is not evident at NW−N where it is crossed by a field fence on a roughly E−W axis. There is an entrance gap (Wth 1.8m) in the bank at ESE, with a causeway across the fosse. An eroded break (Wth 1m) pierces the bank at SW. The interior is level and grassy, with blackthorn encroaching on the NW quadrant. The bank is thickly ringed with hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and sycamore. A rath (MA072-012----) and a possible cashel (MA072-013----) are located c. 200m to S and SE, respectively, and are visible from this rath. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 22 February 2021

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