Ringfort (Rath), Barryshall, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Barryshall, Co. Cork

At the top of a hill in Barryshall, Co. Cork, a nearly perfect circle of earth rises out of the surrounding pasture with quiet authority.

The bank measures roughly 38 metres across in both directions, and at 3.6 metres in height it is substantial enough to have made anyone approaching from the outside acutely aware of that fact. In places the bank is stone-faced, suggesting that whoever built or maintained this structure wanted something more durable than compacted soil alone. A gap in the bank to the east marks what was likely the original entrance.

This is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, the most common monument type surviving in the Irish landscape. Ringforts were typically farmsteads enclosed for security and status, built predominantly during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. The earthen bank here is accompanied by an external fosse, a defensive ditch cut into the ground running from the south around to the east-northeast, though it is now partially filled with rubble. The combination of a raised bank, a stone-faced interior, and a ditch speaks to a site that was constructed with some care, and the hilltop position would have given its occupants a commanding view of the surrounding territory, as well as making the enclosure visible from a considerable distance.

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Pete F
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