Indicated — Rathscanlan

In pasture, located at the break of slope on top of the E end of an E-W ridge. The ground falls away steeply at E, S and N but to W the spine of the ridge rises gradually for c. 140m to its summit where another rath (MA062-049----) is sited. There are good views, especially to E along a N-S stream valley. The rath consists of an oval area (22m E-W; 30m N-S) defined SSE−NNW by an earthen bank (W 2.9m; int. H 0.45m; ext. H 0.6m, at W), reduced elsewhere to a scarp (1.3m at S, 1.7m at N). At E the scarp is dilapidated and poorly defined, and part of the ridge slope beneath it has been dug away. Outside the bank/scarp the ephemeral outline of an infilled fosse (Wth 2m) can be traced SE-W, but an external bank, which is shown in an arc S−W on the 1919 OS 6-inch map, has been removed. There is no clearly defined entrance but it may have been somewhere on the E-SE where the enclosing scarp is lowest. There is a souterrain (MA062-052002-) in the S half of the interior; it is marked as ‘Cave’ on the 1919 OS 6-inch map. Blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel and brambles densely ring the perimeter, and also encroach on the NE quadrant of the interior. Part way down the steep ridge slope at E a trackway, which is cut into the slope, skirts the rath, following a N-S contour on the slope. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 30 November 2020