Ringfort (Rath), Baile An Mhathamhnaigh, Co. Kerry

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Baile An Mhathamhnaigh, Co. Kerry

Most ringforts, or raths, follow a fairly predictable arrangement: a circular bank of earth enclosing a domestic interior where early medieval families kept their households and livestock.

Lisnadiha, known in Irish as Lios na Daibhche, departs from that pattern in a way that continues to puzzle those who study it. Rather than a simple enclosed interior, the site presents a raised central platform, elevated roughly a metre above the inner fosse, with faint traces of what may be a low bank running around its upper rim. Between that platform and the outer enclosing bank lies a broad ditch, and beyond the bank there is a second fosse. Two concentric ditches, a wall of earth, and then a mysterious raised mound at the centre: it is a configuration that sits awkwardly within the usual categories.

The site occupies a south-facing slope on the northern side of the old road running between Dingle and Lispole, in the townland of Baile an Mhathamhnaigh on the Dingle Peninsula. Its measurements give a sense of its scale: the interior platform spans roughly 29 metres north to south and 36.5 metres east to west, making it a substantial enclosure. The outer fosse runs about 3 metres wide and drops 1.5 metres below the surrounding ground level, while the bank itself rises 2.5 metres above both fosses. The entrance opens to the south-east, marked by a 3-metre break in the bank and a corresponding reduction in the platform height over a stretch of 5 metres. The stones flanking that gap are later additions rather than original stonework. A ring of coniferous trees now grows along the top of the enclosing bank, giving the site a distinctive silhouette. One apparent outer bank in the north-east quadrant turns out, on closer inspection, to be a remnant of a townland boundary rather than part of the original structure. The site was surveyed and described by J. Cuppage as part of the Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey, published in 1986.

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