What is recorded here

Sandland Fort is a degraded earthen ringfort in County Mayo, Ireland, marked on maps since 1838. Its circular bank rises barely a metre above the pasture, yet a shallow grassed depression inside suggests a hidden passage beneath the soil. The fort sits on a slight rise above a steep slope leading to a distant stream, as if the land itself tilted to reveal what humans once buried.

In gently undulating average pasture, close to the SE boundary of the townland, located on a slight rise. There is a slight rise in ground level c. 40m to N, from which point the ground then falls abruptly in a steep natural slope towards a stream, which is 150m distant. This rath is named ‘Sandland Fort’ on the 1838 and 1929 OS 6-inch map. It consists of a raised circular area (25.5m N–S; 27.6m E–W) defined at NE–S by a degraded earthen bank (Wth 4.3m; int. H 0.2m; ext. H 0.9m, at SE), reduced elsewhere to a scarp (Wth ext. slope c. 3m; ext. H 1.5m, at NW). The bank has a low internal rim, but is quite well defined on its external slope, with the external face of the scarp at W–NW being particularly pronounced. The entrance may be at E, where there is a low area/gap (Wth 2.5m) in the bank. A low scarp (H 0.4m) separates the NW quadrant on its E and S sides from the rest of the interior, which is at a slightly lower level. There is a possible Man-made underground passage (MA022-067001-), evident as a shallow grassed over linear depression in the W half of the interior. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 2 May 2019

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