Ringfort (Rath), Bannixtown, Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary |
Ringforts
A low oval earthwork in a Tipperary pasture field might not announce itself as anything remarkable, but the ringfort at Bannixtown repays close attention.
What sets it apart is its double-bank construction, a less common arrangement that speaks to a degree of effort, and perhaps status, beyond the typical single-enclosure rath. Ringforts are roughly circular or oval enclosures defined by earthen banks and ditches, built predominantly during the early medieval period in Ireland as farmsteads or defended homesteads for farming families of varying rank. Here, the two concentric banks, separated by a fosse, or ditch, give the site an unusual depth and layering that is still legible in the landscape.
The enclosure sits on a gentle east-facing slope and measures roughly 28 metres north to south and 36 metres east to west. The inner bank is wide, around 7.2 metres across, and rises to an external height of about 2.2 metres, though cattle have worn away sections on the western and northern sides, reducing parts of it to a simple scarp. The intervening fosse is well preserved, nearly 7.5 metres wide and still holding some depth. Beyond it, the outer bank, flat-topped along its southern stretch, continues intermittently around the eastern and south-eastern arc. A causewayed entrance passes through both banks at the south-south-east, the outer gap a generous 9 metres wide and the inner one a narrower 4 metres, suggesting a deliberate, managed approach into the enclosure. The interior slopes gently downward toward the east and is largely overgrown with trees and briars. A second ringfort lies approximately 180 metres to the south-south-east, hinting that this corner of Bannixtown was once a more densely settled early medieval landscape than its present quietness suggests.
