What is recorded here

Indicated is a circular earthen fort on a Mayo ridge, marked by a dense ring of hawthorn and bramble that hides its ancient edge. The east bank is low enough to suggest an entrance, while the west and south remain substantial beneath later field walls. A man-made cave appears in the northwest on an old map, hinting that the fort contained more than a farmyard or shelter. People may have lived, hidden or worshipped there before the land was divided into pasture.

In pasture, straddling a rise on a ridge, with the Pollagh River 380m to W. Slightly raised circular area (diam. c. 40m) defined by an earthen bank. The bank is difficult to examine due to dense overgrowth. It is substantial at SE−S (Wth 3m; int. H 0.45m; H 1.8m at SE) with a steep external slope, which is faced with drystone walling where it has been incorporated into a later field wall. It also appears substantial at NNW (Wth 3-4m; int. H 1-1.2m; ext. H 1.6m), but at NE−E it is low, narrow and degraded, with a few large stones protruding on its inner edge. It is particularly low on the E arc, which may have been the site of an original entrance, though no clearly defined gap is evident now. In parts, stones can be seen along the top of the bank. A Man-made underground passage (MA071-171002-) is indicated as ‘Cave’ in the NW quadrant of the rath on the 1838 OS 6-inch map. A roughly-built drystone field wall (Wth 0.6m; H 0.5) crosses the centre of the interior on a NNW−SSE axis. The bank is ringed with hawthorn trees and brambles, and brambles have encroached on the interior, particularly in the NW quadrant. There are raths (MA071-172----; MA071-170----; MA071-164----; MA071-165----) 140m to SSE, 280m to SW, 275m to NW and 280m to NNW, respectively. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 23 September 2021

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