What is recorded here

Indicated is a ringfort hidden inside blackthorn on a Mayo ridge, marked on maps since 1838 but still resisting clear description. Streams flank both slopes, hazel and fern crowd the crest, and a low stony scarp rings an oval space strewn with boulders. The fort may have been a cashel or an ordinary dwelling, yet the thorns keep its answer private. What is known is that it remains, stubborn and unfinished, waiting for someone patient enough to walk its edge.

In an area of rough, rocky pasture, located on a NNW−SSE ridge, flanked at the base of the NW and SE slopes by streams. A hazel wood cloaks the ridge, mixed with clumps of blackthorn, hawthorn and dense ferns. An oval enclosure (c. 25m N−S; c. 20m E−W) is shown on the 1838 and 1922 OS 6-inch map. The enclosure is extant, but is engulfed in blackthorn scrub which impeded inspection. The perimeter of the enclosure is defined by a stony scarp (H 0.8m, at SW), which is enhanced at NE by the steep natural fall of ground. In parts the scarp appears to be faced with drystone walling; there is much loose stone tumble on the slope at NE. The interior appears to be level, strewn with stones and boulders. This is probably a ringfort, possibly a cashel, but it is not possible to be definitive. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 9 June 2020

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