County: Down Site name: RYAN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Brian B. Williams, Historic Monuments and Buildings Branch, DOE(NI)
Site type: Ringfort - cashel
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 714126m, N 828306m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.190977, -6.251207
A cashel was set on the edge of an escarpment on a long, narrow, granite ridge flanked on either side by low-lying bogs. It was enclosed by a circular stone wall 2-4m wide which, although a little tumbled, stood 0.8m high. The area enclosed was 32m in diameter and sloped gently down to east towards a well-defined gap in the wall which must have been the original entrance. The interior of the site was crossed by lazy-beds.
The cashel lay in the path of a proposed horticultural scheme and an agreement on the preservation of the site could not be reached. A limited programme of investigation was undertaken by Historic Monuments and Buildings Branch from 9 to 13 February 1987.
An excavation trench against the inner face of the cashel wall showed that it extended down a further 0.3m and was not revetted or faced. Some boulders found just inside the wall may represent collapse indicating that the wall originally stood a little higher. A central trench in the interior revealed a dark topsoil set onto a ginger-coloured subsoil. Several fragments of modern glazed pottery were found in the topsoil. The excavation confirmed the opinion that the interior of the site had been almost completely wrecked by cultivation ridges.
