Ringfort (Rath), Killeenrevagh, Co. Mayo

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Killeenrevagh, Co. Mayo

A low ridge rising above a natural basin of waterlogged ground in County Mayo might not seem like prime real estate, but to whoever built this rath at Killeenrevagh, the elevation was clearly the point.

A rath, or ringfort, is an enclosed circular or near-circular settlement platform, typically of early medieval date, defined by an earthen bank or stone wall and used as a farmstead. This one sits prominently at the western edge of the basin, commanding views in every direction, the surrounding damp ground presumably making the dry ridge all the more valuable.

The platform itself is subcircular, measuring roughly 21 metres east to west and 24.5 metres north to south, and shaped like a flattened dome, highest at the centre and dropping gently toward the perimeter. It is defined by a substantial scarp, a steep outer face, which reaches 1.2 metres in height at the north-northwest and is roughly faced with angular stones, now largely sod-covered with the stonework pushing through in irregular patches. Along the top of the scarp, a low stony lip survives in places, possibly the last trace of a wall or stone bank that once ran the full circuit. A single upright slab, 0.65 metres tall and over a metre wide, sits set into the top of the scarp on the east side, its original purpose unclear. Where the scarp is at its lowest, on the southeast arc, a relatively stone-free slope about two metres wide may preserve the line of the original entrance.

Inside, the surface is uneven and heavily obscured by long grass, blackthorn, and gorse in the centre. A shallow trench, roughly 0.8 metres wide and cut to a depth of around 0.25 to 0.3 metres, runs across the interior on a northeast to southwest axis, with a slight rise along its southern side that looks like the remnant of a field bank. In the southwest quadrant, faint cultivation ridges run roughly north to south, indicating that the interior was turned over to agricultural use at some point after the rath's primary occupation. Whether that came centuries later or relatively soon after abandonment, the ground itself is not saying.

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