Ringfort (Rath), Drumreagh, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Drumreagh, Co. Wicklow

On a gentle south-west-facing slope in Drumreagh, overlooking a ravine, a low circular earthwork sits quietly in the Wicklow landscape.

It is easy to walk past without a second glance, but the modest rise of ground is the remains of a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, the most common monument type surviving in the Irish countryside. These were enclosed farmsteads, typically built between the early medieval period and around the twelfth century, where a family would have lived, kept animals, and carried out the daily business of rural life within a defined, defended perimeter.

This particular example is modest in scale but clear in its layout. The circular enclosure measures roughly 26.4 metres in diameter, defined by an earthen bank that ranges from 3.5 to 4.5 metres wide and still stands between 0.7 and 1.4 metres high in places. Outside the bank lies a fosse, a defensive ditch, around 3 metres wide and reaching 1.2 metres in depth. At the southern side, the fosse merges into a berm, a flat shelf of ground between ditch and bank, and the interior at that same southern point is noticeably raised, sitting about 1.2 metres above the berm level. The entrance, 2 metres wide, faces south-east, an orientation that would have offered both morning light and a clear view of approaching visitors or threats. No internal features have been recorded, meaning any structures that once stood inside, whether timber buildings, a souterrain, or a hearth, have long since disappeared into the soil.

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Pete F
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