What is recorded here

Lisheenpastia was a circular rath in County Mayo, visible on maps until ploughing erased its edge. Local tradition claims the site became a children's burial ground, turning a ordinary farm boundary into a place where adult certainty fails. The remaining low rise still marks the difference between memory and forgetting.

In rolling pasture, located on a rise. There is a stream/drain c. 230m to E. This monument, which was probably a rath, is shown on the 1838 and 1922 OS 6-inch maps as a circular enclosure (diam. 20-25m), named ‘Lisheenpastia’. It has been levelled. A low, flat-topped rise (c. 16m N–S; c. 12m E–W) is evident at the location, defined by a broadly slumped slope, with the most pronounced fall of ground on the W side. According to local tradition, it was used as a children’s burial ground (MA038-018002-). There is another possible rath (MA038-019001-) and children’s burial ground (MA018-019002-) 180m to SSE, and a possible rath (MA038-020----) is located c. 190m to SE. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 24 July 2019

Lisheenpastia is a likely early-medieval ringfort, indicated by its circular enclosure and location on a rise, typical of such settlements. It is associated with local folklore surrounding fairy forts, which were often believed to be entrances to the Otherworld or inhabited by supernatural beings.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.