What is recorded here

Fairy fort in Rahans, County Mayo: a raised circular area twenty-seven to twenty-nine metres across, bordered partly by earthen bank and partly by scarp, set on the east side of a ridge above damp pasture reaching toward the River Moy. The name suggests people once believed the fairies lived there, while the shape suggests humans made a boundary, perhaps for a home, a shrine or a gathering place. Brambles still fill the north half, and ash and hawthorn mark the edge, keeping the fort half-hidden in the ordinary field.

In pasture, located close to break of slope on E side of a ridge, overlooking an expanse of damp, low-lying pasture, which stretches 500m E to the banks of the River Moy. Raised circular area (27m E-W; 29m N-S) defined NW–NE by an earthen bank (Wth 4.9m; int. H 1.1m; ext. H 1.9m at NNW), and elsewhere by a scarp (H 1m at S) with a broad external slope (Wth slope 5m). Outside the bank at N-NE there is a depression (Wth 3.5m; D 0.6m), which may be an original fosse, but there is no evidence for its continuation elsewhere around the circuit. There is a broad break (Wth c. 6m) in the bank at W. The interior is level; brambles cover much of the north half. The rath perimeter is ringed with ash and hawthorn trees. There is an enclosure (MA039-023----) 250m downslope to NNE. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 27 January 2020

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