Ringfort (Rath), Kilmore, Co. Limerick
Co. Limerick |
Ringforts
Most ringforts, those circular enclosed farmsteads built across Ireland during the early medieval period, survive as a single bank and ditch.
The one at Kilmore in County Limerick goes considerably further. Three concentric earthen banks ring a circular interior measuring 36.5 metres north to south, each bank separated from the next by a fosse, with an additional external fosse beyond the outermost ring. That degree of elaboration, three banks rather than one, would have signalled something meaningful in early medieval society, whether the wealth of the occupant, the need for genuine defensive depth, or simply a desire to project status to anyone approaching across the surrounding pasture.
The site sits at the foot of a south-facing slope in undulating farmland, a position that would have offered reasonable shelter and good visibility across lower ground. The three banks vary slightly in their preserved heights: the innermost rises roughly a metre on its exterior face, the second matches that, and the outermost reaches about 1.2 metres on the exterior. What is notable is that the two outer banks are only clearly traceable from the north-west around to the south; elsewhere they have been reduced or obscured. A formal entrance, 4.5 metres wide, passes through the banks at the south-south-east, which is a common orientation for ringfort entrances and likely reflects the preference for approaches from the drier, sunnier side. A narrower gap survives at the north, possibly a secondary access or a later breach. The survey was compiled by Denis Power and uploaded to the national record in August 2011.
The interior is now heavily colonised by coniferous trees and dense undergrowth, which means the earthworks themselves, visible in the surrounding pasture, are more rewarding to examine from the outside than from within. The banks are best read by walking the perimeter, where the ground rises and falls in a sequence that makes the concentric layout legible underfoot even where it is less obvious to the eye. Access is across agricultural land, so the usual courtesies apply; the earthworks are low but present, and the fosse between the banks, at nearly a metre deep and over a metre wide, is worth watching underfoot in wet conditions.