Ringfort (Rath), Carrigaline Middle, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Carrigaline Middle, Co. Cork

On a south-facing slope in Carrigaline Middle, a low circular earthwork sits quietly in pasture, its outline easy to miss unless you know what you are looking for.

This is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead built and occupied largely during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Thousands survive across Ireland in various states of preservation, yet each one represents a household, a family's decision about where to live and how to defend their animals and themselves against opportunistic raiding rather than organised warfare.

The earthwork measures 32.5 metres across in both directions, making it a reasonably consistent circle. An earthen bank, surviving to a height of around 1.2 metres, defines the northern through to the east-south-eastern arc of the enclosure, while elsewhere the boundary survives only as a low rise in the ground. Beyond the bank, an external fosse, the shallow ditch from which the bank material was originally dug, remains traceable as a slight depression in the turf. A possible entrance is suggested on the southern side, which would have been a sensible orientation given the slope and the light. The site is noted in connection with excavation work reported in 2002, though the detail of what that investigation revealed is not fully set out in the available record.

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Pete F
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