
What is recorded here
Indicated is a circular fairy fort in County Mayo, Ireland, where rushes choke the interior and gorse rings the perimeter. Local tradition claims an underground passage opens within the northern bank, inviting reckless curiosity into the damp dark. The rise commands a stream valley while a derelict farmstead watches from beside the ancient earthworks.
In rough, rush- and gorse-grown pasture, located on a rise with a steep fall of ground to W, commanding excellent views over a stream valley. Boggy ground extends to NE. There is a derelict farmstead immediately to SE.
Circular area platform (39.4m N–S; 39.4m E–W) defined by a scarp (H 1.8m at N), which retains a low internal rim (Wth c. 2.5m) at N, and enclosed by an external fosse (Wth 5.3m at N) evident around the full circuit as a shallow, damp depression marked by a dense growth of rushes. Remnants of an external bank survive at NW−NNE (Wth c. 6m), where it is clipped by a straight E−W field drain and field fence and is largely obscured by overgrowth, and at ENE–ESE where a short length is visible as a low rise. A farm track cuts across the fosse at SSE–S, and a vernacular stone-built shed appears to partly overlie the levelled remnants of the external bank at SSE.
In the interior there is a central spine of level ground from which ground level falls gently towards the perimeter scarp at W and NE. There is no clearly defined entrance, but it is most likely to have been at the E or SE; the fosse appears less clearly defined at ESE–SE.
According to local tradition, there is a Man-made underground passage (MA091-012001-) in the rath interior, the opening to which was in the bank at N.
Rushes grow throughout the interior and gorse rings the perimeter.
Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy
Date of upload: 9 February 2022
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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