What is recorded here
Indicated is a circular earthwork in County Mayo where a stone-lined entrance still faces east beneath hawthorn and brambles. Its banks, ditch and inner slope remain visible in pasture above the Trimoge River, while quarry pits and a shallow depression hint that people may have dug into or built beneath the floor. The fort does not need a grand claim; it keeps its shape, marks its entrance and waits to be walked around.
In pasture in undulating terrain, located at a break of slope where the ground falls gently towards the Trimoge River c. 165m to S.
Slightly raised circular area (c. 35m N–S) defined by a bank (Wth 2.3m, int. H 0.55m; ext. H 1m), outside which it is enclosed by a fosse (Wth 3m) with an outer bank (at WNW: Wth 2.7m; int. H 0.75m; ext. H 0.45m).
The inner bank has a rather low internal rim. It is topped with a thin loose jumble of stones, and has stone tumble on its slopes. The fosse is broad and flat-based at NE−S, bordered on its outer edge by the outer bank which has been subsumed N–S into a later field wall. On the W half, however, the fosse is narrow and shallow (Wth 1m) with a low bank on its outer edge, outside which is another fosse/gap (Wth 1.3m) with a field fence on its outer edge –it is unclear to what extent the difference in the outer enclosing features between the E and W halves of the rath are the result of modification of the rath in the modern era.
The entrance gap (Wth 2m) in the inner bank at E has a facing of stone slabs, which extends for 1.5m across the fosse, splaying outwards slightly. A stone kerb also continues along the inner edge of the bank for a short distance on either side of the entrance. The corresponding gap in the outer bank is blocked by a later field wall.
The interior has a gentle slope down from S of centre to S. In the W half, beneath a thicket of blackthorn and brambles, an area of disturbance is visible, marked by several small quarry pits (diam. 3-4m; D 0.5-0.6m) with additional disturbance caused by badger sets. At the SW of this area, there is a depression (Wth 2m; D 0.2-0.4m) with a number of large stones and slabs protruding from, or lying on the base. This may indicate a collapsed Man-made underground passage (MA071-178001-).
Both banks are ringed with hawthorn, hazel and lime trees; blackthorn scrub and brambles cover the interior.
Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy
Date of upload: 24 September 2021
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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