Ringfort (Rath), Ballyphilip, Co. Tipperary

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Ballyphilip, Co. Tipperary

A steep river ravine runs directly past the northern edge of this ringfort in Ballyphilip, County Tipperary, close enough to have served as a natural defensive barrier, yet the people who built it chose not to incorporate the ravine into the enclosure at all.

That decision is what makes the site quietly puzzling. A cliff-edge fort, a related type of monument found just 250 metres to the northwest, would typically exploit exactly such a dramatic natural feature as part of its boundary. Here, the builders constructed a complete circular earthwork in its own right, right up against the drop, as if making a deliberate point about the enclosure being self-contained.

The ringfort is a substantial one. Its interior measures roughly 48 metres across on an east-west axis, enclosed by an earth and stone bank that survives well along the southern and western arcs, where it is still covered in thorn and gorse. A fosse, the external ditch that would originally have reinforced the bank, is faintly visible on the western side, though it has been reduced to a shallow trace. On the northern and eastern sides, facing the ravine, the bank has been largely worn down to a scarp, and at the northern edge the drop to the ravine below reaches seven metres. The interior itself slopes downward from west to east, and at its centre a large natural rock outcrop breaks the surface. A four-metre gap in the bank at the southeast may mark the original entrance, or it may be a much later opening made for livestock. A further ringfort sits about 300 metres to the north, suggesting this upland area once held a cluster of such enclosures, each positioned to overlook the river valley below.

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Pete F
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