Ringfort (Rath), Grange Lower, Co. Limerick

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Grange Lower, Co. Limerick

A modern field boundary has sliced clean through what was once a circular enclosure in Grange Lower, County Limerick, leaving the western half of an Early Medieval ringfort with nowhere to go.

The north-to-south ditch that now divides the land cuts the site so decisively that no trace of the enclosure survives on the far side of the boundary. What remains is an incomplete arc of earthwork, still legible enough to read but permanently altered by the ordinary business of farming.

Ringforts, sometimes called raths, were the most common form of rural settlement in Early Medieval Ireland, typically consisting of a circular area enclosed by one or more earthen banks and ditches, used as a farmstead and enclosure for livestock. The surviving portion of this one measures roughly 31 metres north to south and 26.3 metres east to west. It is defined by a scarped edge, a slope cut into the ground to form a low but deliberate bank, running from the north-west to the south-west, standing about 0.45 metres high and a metre wide. To the north and east, a waterlogged external fosse, that is, a defensive ditch, survives to a depth of 0.6 metres and a width of five metres, with a counterscarp bank on its outer edge rising to around 0.25 metres. The site was recorded and compiled by Denis Power, with the record uploaded in August 2011.

The interior is level and free of overgrowth, which is partly explained by its current use as a foddering area for cattle. That agricultural function has, in a way, kept the interior readable. Perhaps the most quietly notable feature is a deep spring sitting just inside the scarped edge at the south-west, measuring roughly three metres by four. Springs within or immediately adjacent to ringforts are not uncommon, and their presence likely influenced where such enclosures were sited in the first place. The waterlogged fosse to the north and east suggests the ground here holds moisture readily, making the spring less of a surprise and more of a clue about why this particular patch of undulating Limerick pasture was chosen in the first place.

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Pete F
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