Ringfort (Rath), Kiltimon, Co. Wicklow

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Kiltimon, Co. Wicklow

Tucked into woodland on a steep northeast-facing slope in County Wicklow, this early medieval ringfort makes clever use of terrain in a way that sets it apart from the more typical examples found on open farmland across Ireland.

A ringfort, or rath, is an enclosed circular settlement dating broadly from the early medieval period, typically defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches and used as a farmstead or place of refuge. What is slightly unusual here is the way the builders adapted their defences to the natural gradient of the hillside rather than working against it.

The enclosed area measures roughly 39 metres in diameter. On the gentler southwestern to north-northeastern arc, a bank survives to about a metre in height and up to nine metres wide, accompanied by an external fosse, a term for a defensive ditch, that runs all the way around and measures between four and a half metres wide and up to 1.8 metres deep. On the steeper northeastern to southern side, the fosse merges into a berm, a narrow ledge cut horizontally into the slope itself, letting the natural incline do much of the defensive work that earth-moving would otherwise require. A slight outer bank, around two metres wide and one metre high, adds a further line on the northern and southwestern approaches. Entry to the interior was by a ramp roughly three metres wide, cut into the scarped, that is steeply trimmed, southeastern face. A stream runs immediately to the south of the site, which would have made the location practical as well as defensible. No evidence of internal structures has been recorded, though this is not uncommon where timber buildings long ago decayed and left little surface trace.

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