What is recorded here

Kilgobban holds a faded ringfort where a low earthen bank still circles a grassy chamber twenty-five metres across. The structure sits on a natural rise overlooking undulating Mayo terrain, yet it vanished from both the 1838 and 1922 survey maps. A broad eastern gap probably marks the original entrance, while scattered stones and faint linear depressions hint at ancient building and later farm use. The site preserves a quiet human presence that official record forgot.

In pasture, located on a natural rise or elevation, generally low-sided but with a steeper slope at N. There are good views over the surrounding undulating terrain, and of the S-facing slope of a ridge c. 400m to S. This rath is not shown on the 1838 and 1922 OS 6-inch maps. On the 1838 edition the location is shown as part of Leadymore townland; due to subsequent townland boundary changes, the location now falls within Kilgobban townland. The rath is evident as a slightly raised circular area (25m N–S; 24m E–W) defined by a low, degraded bank (Wth 1.8-2m; int. H 0.25m; ext. H 0.4m, at SW), reduced to a scarp (ext. H 0.5m, at NE) at N–NE. Stones protrude randomly from the bank; a few stones visible along the base of the external face at E, SE and SW may be remnants of a kerb. There is a broad break (Wth 8m) in the bank at E–SE, which probably represents a modern widening of the original entrance. The interior is level and grassy; a number of slight E–W linear depressions may be tractor tracks, or possibly cultivation furrows. A number of boulders on top of the bank at NE–N are most likely the result of field clearance activities. Outside the bank at N there is an irregular terrace in the slope, but this appears to be the result of relatively recent scarping of the natural elevation. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 13 December 2018

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