Ringfort (Rath), Commons (Shanid By.), Co. Limerick
Co. Limerick |
Ringforts
What makes this particular earthwork in the Commons townland of Shanid Barony quietly compelling is not any dramatic ruin but rather the way an early medieval farmstead has been absorbed, almost seamlessly, into the working agricultural landscape around it.
A ringfort, or rath, was the most common form of enclosed settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically consisting of a circular or oval area surrounded by one or more earthen banks and ditches, built to protect a farming family and their livestock. Here in County Limerick, that basic form survives in pasture on a south-facing slope, its oval outline measuring roughly 33 metres north to south and 37.5 metres east to west.
The site was recorded by Denis Power and uploaded to the national monuments database in August 2011. The enclosure is defined on the north-east to west-north-west arc by a scarped edge, essentially a deliberately cut slope, standing 1.65 metres high and nearly four and a half metres wide. The remaining arc, from west-north-west back around to the north-east, is formed by an earthen bank, modest in height on the interior at around 45 centimetres but rising to just under a metre on the outside, with a shallow external fosse, a defensive ditch, running alongside it at three metres wide and 30 centimetres deep. What sets this rath apart slightly from a straightforward example is the evidence of reuse. Stone facing survives on the external face of the bank at the northern side, indicating that at some point the ancient enclosure boundary was incorporated into a field boundary system. Further field boundaries abut the monument at the west-north-west and north-east, so the early medieval perimeter and the post-medieval agricultural grid have essentially grown into one another over the centuries.
The interior slopes down toward the east and is currently under pasture, so there is nothing visually dramatic awaiting a visitor; the interest lies in reading the earthworks themselves. The scarped edge and the low bank are best appreciated by walking the perimeter and noticing where the character of the boundary changes, and where the later stone-faced field walls tie into the older structure. Because the site sits in working farmland, access would require the landowner's permission. The earthworks are subtle enough that they reward a slow, unhurried circuit rather than a quick glance from the field gate.