What is recorded here

Enclosure in Ballybrit is a ruined semicircular bank beside a rath in County Galway, reduced in 1971 when the racecourse widened. What remains is a short arc of earth, no taller than a knee, holding the shape of a room never built for people. The horses still run past it, unaware that they circle the last visible edge of a place the world once kept separate.

In rough pastureland within the grounds of the Ballybrit racecourse; some 25m to the W of a rath (GA082-013----). Marked on 3rd ed. of OS 6-inch map (1945-6) as a roughly semicircular enclosure defined by a bank from SSW through W to N. In 1971 when the racecourse was widened most of the monument was removed and only a short arc of the bank (L 5m; Wth 2m; H 0.4m) from SSW to WSW remained undisturbed. No trace of a fosse was evident. Excavation produced nothing but a single post-medieval pot sherd (Waddell 1971, 73-9). It was not possible to determine the original plan of the enclosure and there was no indication that it was ever more than a rough semicircle in plan (ibid., 74). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. I - West Galway'. Compiled by Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Updated by: Olive Alcock Date of revised upload: 30 August 2018 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 14/1977).

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