Ringfort (Rath), Caherclogh, Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary |
Ringforts
The townland name Caherclogh translates roughly as "stone chair", and that etymology turns out to carry a genuine memory.
A local tradition recorded by Power in 1907 describes a stone seat that once stood on a prominent rise in the area, used in the inauguration of the local chieftain. The eminence in question is likely the nearby ringfort known as Fortwilliam, which sits at the highest point in the landscape and, notably, remains in the ownership of the Purcell family. The ringfort at Caherclogh itself occupies a commanding position at the south-eastern end of a hill, and its situation on a natural rise gives it an unusual convex internal profile, so that the ground within the enclosure swells upward rather than lying flat.
The earthwork is a rath, the most common type of ringfort in Ireland, consisting of a raised earthen bank enclosing a roughly circular area rather than a stone-built cashel. At Caherclogh the enclosure measures approximately 41.5 metres north to south and 37.8 metres east to west, defined by a bank whose external face still stands around 1.58 metres high. A fosse, or defensive ditch, can be traced in the northern quadrant, and lusher grass growth in the west hints at a second fosse that has largely silted and settled back into the ground. A small area of quarrying inside the western quadrant has long since grassed over. Evergreen trees have been planted around the interior of the bank, with some ash in the west, and a ring of coniferous plantation now surrounds the whole structure, giving it a quietly enclosed quality.