Ringfort (Cashel), Madara, Co. Clare

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Cashel), Madara, Co. Clare

In the townland of Madara in County Clare, there sits a cashel, a type of ringfort built from dry-stone walling rather than earthen banks, that has left almost no trace in the written record.

Ringforts of this kind were the dominant form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, roughly from the sixth to the twelfth century, and thousands survive across the country in varying states of preservation. Most have at least a summary description attached to them. This one, for now, does not.

The cashel form was particularly well suited to the limestone-rich landscape of Clare, where loose stone was far more abundant than the deep soils needed for cutting substantial earthworks. A cashel typically enclosed a farmstead, its circular wall providing security for livestock and household alike, and in some cases outer enclosures called bawns added further protection. Beyond that general picture, the specific history of the Madara example, its dimensions, condition, any associated features within or around it, remains unrecorded in publicly available sources. It is a site that archaeology has named and located but not yet described.

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Pete F
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