Ringfort (Rath), Beaghy, Co. Cavan

It is a rath, the most common type of early medieval ringfort in Ireland, a form of enclosed farmstead typically dating from roughly the sixth to the tenth century, in which a single family or small community lived within a bank of earth thrown up for both defence and social display.

This particular example measures approximately 22.4 metres in internal diameter, a modest but not unusual size for a rath of its type. It retains a substantial earthen bank, and although the fosse, the external ditch from which that bank material was originally dug, has been infilled over the centuries, enough of it survives to be read in the ground. What cannot be determined is where the original entrance once stood; that detail has been lost entirely to time and the gradual reshaping of the site. The raised interior gives the structure a faint presence in the field, a slight elevation that catches the eye once you know what you are looking at, even if it would mean little to a passing glance.