Ringfort (Rath), Ardnacally, Co. Mayo

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Ringfort (Rath), Ardnacally, Co. Mayo

A low earthen bank curving through pasture on an east-facing slope in County Mayo is easy to miss, and for most of recorded history it probably was.

What makes this particular enclosure quietly interesting is not just what it is, but where it sits: roughly 150 metres south of another ringfort, the two of them occupying the same gentle hillside in Ardnacally as near neighbours across the centuries.

A rath is a ringfort built from earth rather than stone, a type of enclosed farmstead common across early medieval Ireland, typically dating from around 500 to 1000 AD. Thousands survive in varying states across the country, and this one is a modest but legible example. The enclosure measures approximately 32 metres north to south and 30 metres east to west, making it a fairly standard domestic scale. The earthen bank still stands to a height of around 1.1 metres along much of its circuit, though it has been levelled off between the north-east and south-east, leaving that arc considerably reduced. There is also a gap on the southern side, which may represent an original entrance or a later breach. The site was recorded as part of an archaeological survey of the Ballinrobe district, including the Lough Mask and Lough Carra area, compiled by D. Lavelle and published in 1994.

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Pete F
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