What is recorded here

Indicated is a compact fairy fort in County Mayo, overlooked by a larger rath on the ridge above. Its earthen bank still stands beside a main road, with hazel and bluebells choking the interior. The smaller rath may have been a dwelling, a boundary marker or a place of warning, while the greater one watched from above. Whatever it was, the land kept its shape long after people stopped naming it.

In pasture, located at the base of the E-facing slope of a small ridge. It is overlooked by a larger rath (MA039-074001-) which crowns the top of the ridge 100m to W. Slightly raised circular area (diam. c. 30m) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 4m; int. H 0.55m; ext. H 1.1m, 1.5m at NNE). The bank is compact and well defined, with a stony top in parts. A number of large stones occurring along the bank appear to be the result of field clearance activity. The rath is built up on the NE−E side, to compensate for a natural fall of ground. A very slight depression is evident outside the bank at S; it may be an indication of an infilled fosse. There is a gap (Wth 1.3m) in the bank at NE, which is roughly faced with stones and may be an original entrance. There is another narrow, eroded break at NW. In the N half of the interior there is a jumbled heap of stones and earth, which cannot be examined closely as it is largely obscured by overgrowth; it may simply be a field clearance heap. The perimeter is ringed with hazel, and a dense thicket of hazel, blackthorn and brambles obscures much of the interior, with a carpet of moss and bluebells in the clear patches. A main road lies immediately to E of the rath. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 1 April 2020

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