Rahally

35 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Rahally, from 56 m² to 116,544 m² (11.65 ha, 28.8 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary. 29 neighbouring parcels touch it.

Download the townland as DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings, or as GeoJSON or KML.

No zone of a development plan covers Rahally in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply to each application.

Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.

No planning application touches the townland of Rahally in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches the townland of Rahally.

Recorded monuments

• GA086-211 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  Situated on a spur of the Kilreekill ridge with commanding views to north, west and south-west. The monument stands at the centre of a hillfort (GA086-211001-) and consists of a well-preserved oval rath (E-W 34.7, N-S 29.6m) defined by two banks and an intervening fosse. A field wall surrounds the outer bank. Within the interior are a number of rectangular structures (L c. 10.4m, Wth c. 4.6m) defined by grassed-over banks of stone; possible houses. An enclosure was discovered immediately north-east of the ringfort (GA086-211002-). (Alcock et al. 2009, no. 2168) Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 11 November 2015

• GA086-211001 Hillfort
  Description

  The monument is situated on a spur of the Kilreekill ridge with commanding views to north, west and south-west and came to light in the course of archaeological investigations undertaken in advance of the construction of the M6 motorway. The following description is derived from that published by Mullins (2014). This multivallate hillfort is defined by four concentric fosses; an outer double fosse around the hill flanks (450m in diameter and covering c. 14.4 ha in area), a middle fosse and an inner fosse on the summit surrounding the later ringfort (GA086-211----) and adjoining enclosure (GA086-211003-). Despite the very large scale of the hillfort, the fosses were relatively modest in size being up to 4m wide and 1.5m deep (max.). The excavated evidence indicated that they had been cleaned out or recut in antiquity and eventually became filled with silt, slumping and ploughsoil. Among these fills were inclusions of animal bone, prehistoric artefacts, charcoal and pottery. On the north face of the hill part of the innermost enclosure took the form of a scarp in the hillslope, rather than a proper fosse. In the west, there was a remnant of an earth bank between the outer double fosses. This survived because it had become incorporated within the base of a modern field boundary. Although this is the only upstanding evidence of any bank surviving in situ, it is probable that banks as well as fosses originally enclosed the whole of the hillfort. In the eastern sector, rubble in the fills of the outer, double fosses, suggests there was a stone revetment to the earthworks on that side. The entrances to the hillfort were identified as simple breaks or gaps in the enclosing fosses, forming a series of openings aligned to the west and east. They varied in width from 1.4m to 6.2 m. There were no structural features associated with these gaps (e.g. post-holes for gates or wooden bridges). There may have been corresponding entrances on the north and south sides, but as these would have been outside the lands acquired for the new road, in parts of the hillfort that were not excavated, we cannot be sure of this. From the combined evidence of radiocarbon dates and artefacts the hillfort can be dated to the Late Bronze Age. Charcoals from the inner, middle and outer fosse fills were dated to 994-827 BC (UB-7244), 1090-900 BC (Wk-22637), and 790-520 BC (Wk-22636), respectively. These dates correspond with pottery fragments from all three fosses, which are also from the Late Bronze Age. Objects recovered from the hillfort fosses include pottery sherds, a whetstone, antler picks, chipped stone tools in flint or chert, a bone pin fragment, and a polished stone axehead. There were over 450 pottery sherds, mostly from the innermost fosse, representing altogether at least seven coarse, flat-bottomed, bucket-shaped vessels of Late Bronze Age type. The animal bone assemblage included cattle bones, the dominant type, pig, red deer, sheep/goat, and dog. Horse, hare, wildcat (probable) and some wild bird species were also represented. Charred plant remains were notably absent from all of the fosses which indicates that mixed animal husbandry was practiced with no significant evidence for arable farming. Cattle were the main meat providers but hunting red deer was important too. In common with the pottery, the concentration of bone in the middle and inner fosses suggests that food was consumed in the central part of the hillfort. The remains of a further ringfort-like enclosure (GA086-256----) were discovered partly overlying the outer double-fosse c. 225m to the north-east. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 11 November 2015

• GA086-211002 Enclosure
  Description

  This enclosure was discovered in the course of archaeological investigations undertaken in advance of the construction of the M6 motorway and the following account is derived from the published report (Mullins 2014). Situated immediately north-east of the ringfort (GA086-211----) the enclosure, c. 40m in diameter, was defined by a circular fosse, 3m wide and 1.2m deep. There were vestigial remains of a low earth bank inside the fosse. The entrance was probably in the south. The fosse had become filled with soil and stones and a charcoal sample from the fosse fill was dated to AD 1020-1180 (Wk-22641). Finds from the fosse include a penannular brooch, a yellow glass bead, an iron knife blade and worked bone fragments including several bone comb pieces. Food waste from the fosse (including grain, bones of cattle, sheep, pig with smaller numbers of horse, deer, dog and wild goose) suggests a mixed farming economy with access to a wide range of resources. This enclosure has been interpreted (Mullins 2014, 112) as an annex to the bivallate ringfort (GA086-211----). Two human burials of children were discovered. The remains of a child of about 12 years were found in the fosse and yielded a date of AD 1020-1200 (Beta-241480). The remains of another child, aged 4-6 years, were found near the centre of this enclosure and dated to AD 990-1160 (Beta-241479). It is suggested (Mullins 2014, 112) that the enclosure had already gone out of use by the time these burials took place. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 11 November 2015

• GA086-213 Field system
  Description

  On a W-facing slope in grassland. A series of earthen banks forming roughly rectangular fields cover an area c. 250m E-W by c. 200m N-S. Cultivation ridges are visible within the fields and a curving coeval trackway (L 200m, Wth 5m), defined by parallel banks, runs through the monument. A ringfort (GA086-211----) lies c. 250m to SE. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010

• GA086-256 Ringfort - rath
  Description

  This leveled enclosure was discovered in the course of archaeological investigations undertaken in advance of the construction of the M6 motorway and the following account is derived from the published report (Mullins 2014). Situated on the eastern flank of the hill, the enclosure overlay and slighted the outermost fosses of the earlier hillfort (GA086-211001-). Interpreted as a small ringfort (Mullins 2014, 112) it was defined by a narrow fosse, about 2m wide and 1.25m deep and was c. 32m in diameter. There was no surviving evidence for a bank. The entrance was towards the west, facing the ringfort (GA086-211----) and enclosure (GA086-211003-) on the hill summit, 180m distant. There were a few curvilinear gullies and some small pits in the interior, but no clear evidence for buildings or hearths. The recovered food waste included animal bones and plant remains (charred grains of oats and barley in the fosse). Cattle dominated the animal bones, with red deer, sheep, horse, pig and dog also present. The deer bones included both shed antlers and butchered bones. A miscellany of artefacts from the fosse contributes to the impression of a prosperous homestead of some sort. The finds were a base metal finger-ring, a glass 'melon bead', iron knife blades and bone comb fragments. Charcoal from the fosse was dated to AD 680-890 (Wk-22638) and this corresponded with a date of AD 680-880 (Wk-22640) for charcoal from a pit in the interior. The burial of a woman of 36-45 years was found in the fosse and the remains dated to AD 890-1030 (Bcta-241478). It is suggested (Mullins 2014, 112) that the enclosure had already gone out of use by the time this burial took place. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 11 November 2015

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Rahally.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

Radon

At the centre of the townland of Rahally, about 1 in 20 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

The 1:50,000 map rates the landslide susceptibility here as low.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Rahally.

Flooding

The Office of Public Works publishes its flood maps on floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, and Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland, both under CC BY 4.0. LiDAR: contains Irish Public Sector Data (Geological Survey Ireland & the Office of Public Works) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.

No address of the register names Rahally with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Galway.

Name

Rahally · Ráth Chalaidh

Area

716,189 m² (71.62 ha, 176.97 acres)

Civil parish

Grange, and its townlands

Barony

Kilconnell

Electoral division

Grange, the unit of the census

Census 2022

805 people lived in 256 households in the Grange electoral division. 93% of households owned their home. 36% of homes were built since 2001. 13% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 0% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ballinphuill, Bellafa, Boleymore, Brackloon, Cloonyconaun, Cross, Slievedotia, Toormacleane

Placenames

Rahally on logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland

Townlands, civil parishes, baronies and electoral divisions, National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. Census 2022, Small Area Population Statistics by electoral division, Central Statistics Office, CC BY 4.0. A townland is the smallest land division of Ireland, and the unit of a rural address. Old registers such as the 1901 and 1911 censuses file it under its civil parish and barony.