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Indicated

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort

What is recorded here

Indicated is a 28-metre earthen ringfort on a Mayo ridge, its scarp still standing 1.5 metres high despite blackthorn engulfing the interior and a large pit cutting through the south. Cattle track a faint depression outside the west wall, possibly following an ancient fosse, while rabbit burrows scatter the hidden ground within. The fort overlooks a stream valley two hundred metres below, suggesting whoever built it chose visibility and defense rather than concealment.
In pasture, located on a ridge, with good views. A fall of ground to SW-W overlooks a stream valley, which is c. 200m to SW. Raised circular area (diam. 28m E−W) defined by a scarp (ext. H 1.3m at SW; 1.55m at NNW), with a short length of stony bank (L 2m; Wth 2.5m; int. H 0.4m; ext. H 0.45-0.5m) surviving at S. Stones are evident along the top edge of the scarp in parts and tumbled on the external slope. The scarp at NE has a broad external slump, becoming lower on the SE arc. There is a break or gap (Wth c. 2m) at ENE, partly obscured by loose stone –it may mark an entrance. At SE the scarp peters out or has been levelled to a broader gap. A slight depression (Wth 2m) immediately outside the scarp at W−NW, used by cattle as a trackway, might preserve the line of a fosse, but this is very uncertain. A field wall on a NNW−SEE axis crosses the W half of the rath; it is engulfed in hawthorn and brambles. A large pit (10m E−W; 7m N−S; D 1.6m) cuts into the S half of the interior. Blackthorn scrub engulfs the rath. There are several rabbit burrows. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 17 August 2021

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What survives
Recorded monument

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