A ringfort that no longer exists is, in a quiet way, more thought-provoking than one that does. At Kilmacomma in County Waterford, a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort defined by an earthen bank rather than stone, once sat towards the bottom of a north-facing slope in what was ordinary agricultural pasture. By 1977 it had already been partially worn down, its northern bank reduced to little more than a scarp, a low eroded edge in the ground. The whole structure measured roughly 32 metres in diameter, placing it in the common range for these enclosed farmsteads of early medieval Ireland, where a single family or household would have lived within the raised circular earthwork. Then, around 1980, it was removed entirely.

What the removal revealed makes the loss more pointed. When the eastern bank was disturbed, a souterrain came to light beneath it. Souterrains are underground stone-lined passages or chambers, typically associated with ringforts, and thought to have served as refuges, cool storage spaces, or escape routes during the early medieval period. The fact that this one was built into or beneath the bank of the fort suggests it was integral to the original settlement, constructed as part of the same enclosure rather than added later. Its discovery during demolition, rather than during any planned investigation, is a familiar enough pattern in Irish archaeology, where the significance of a site only becomes apparent once it is already being destroyed.