What is recorded here

The ghost ring in Rathmore South still holds its shape in wet pasture, fifty-five metres across, though most of its stones are gone and one side has gone flat as a cut edge. It is the kind of place that swallows marbles, keys and patience, and gives them back changed. People may have lived inside it, or kept herds, or simply marked the boundary between ordinary land and the fancy world. Either way, it is large enough to walk around and quiet enough to hear yourself thinking.

In low-lying pasture, cut by land drains and watercourses, 45m NE of a townland boundary with Dunkip. Within the S half of a field system (LI031-025001-). Depicted on the 1897 ed. OSi 25-inch map as a subcircular-shaped earthwork (61m NE-SW; 60m NW-SE). Described by O’Kelly (1944, 50) as: ‘A simple stone fort which did not have a fosse. It is now very badly collapsed and much of the stone has been removed. At one point on the S side some of the facing stones remain. The entrance is not recognisable. The overall diameter is 180’ (55m)’. Monument is visible on 1:10,000 Bord Gais Eireann aerial photographs (No. 36) and on Archaeological Survey of Ireland aerial photographs (ASIAP 308, 32; 329, 6) taken 13/09/2002 and 05/10/2002 as a subcircular-shaped earthwork, having a straight side to NW. Monument is visible as a subcircular-shaped earthwork on OSi aerial orthoimage taken 2005-2012, on Digital Globe aerial orthoimage taken 2011-2013 and on Google Earth orthoimage taken 28/06/2018. See attached Google Earth orthoimage, Bord Gais Eireann aerial photo and ASIAP. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 2 November 2020

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.