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Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Rathdonnell

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Three earthen rings and two cutting ditches still circle a raised oval on the Rathdonnell rise, marking one of the larger fortified places visible across that pasture. The eastern entrance preserves staggered gaps and causeways, while a shallow depression near the northern inside bank hints that a hidden passage may have breached the ground beneath. People may have lived, hidden or worshipped there before the fields widened, but the earth has kept the shape of their choices intact.
In undulating average pasture, located on a prominent rise, utilising the steep slopes on the W and S. There is an area of low-lying, wet ground to S-SE. This rath is enclosed by three banks with intervening fosses. It consists of a broadly oval, raised area (40.6m E-W; 45.5m N-S) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 5.7m; int. H 0.8m; ext. H 2.9m) and enclosed by a fosse (Wth 4m) with external bank (Wth 7.7m; int. H 2.2m; ext. H 1.8m). The second fosse and outermost bank (Wth 3.4m; int. H 1.2m; ext. H 0.2m) survive in an arc at NNW−E, but are levelled elsewhere. The entrance consists of a gap (Wth 4.3m), with intermittent stone facing, in the inner bank at the E, with a ramp-like causeway across the innermost fosse, and a corresponding gap (Wth 3m) in the second bank. A slight causeway, flanked by sod-covered stones, is also evident in the second fosse, splaying outwards to a broad gap (Wth 7m) in the outermost bank. The SW quadrant of the interior is at a slightly higher level that the rest of the interior. At the N edge of this raised area, a few meters from the enclosing bank, there is a surface depression (Diam. c. 2m; D 0.6m), possibly indicating a Man-made underground passage (MA030-043001-). A road skirts the rath at W, truncating the outermost fosse and bank. Another multivallate rath (MA030-041----) is located c. 200m to S, and a standing stone (MA030-044----) is located c. 500m to SE, both visible from this rath. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 16 April 2018

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What survives
Recorded monument

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