Ringfort (Rath), Farranmanagh, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Farranmanagh, Co. Kerry

What makes this particular earthwork quietly remarkable is not the rath itself, which is unassuming enough, but the company it keeps.

Set on a south-facing slope in County Kerry, this circular enclosure sits within a cluster of four similar monuments, with two neighbours lying within 70 metres to the east and west, and a third roughly 200 metres to the south-west. Such concentrations suggest that early medieval farming communities here were not isolated homesteaders but participants in a denser social landscape than the scattered fields around them might imply.

A rath, to give it its Irish term, is an earthen ringfort, the kind of enclosed farmstead that was built in its thousands across Ireland during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. This one measures approximately 36 metres in diameter, defined by a grass-covered bank that has, over the centuries, been absorbed into the local field boundary system, its function quietly repurposed by whoever farmed the land afterwards. The bank itself is modest, rising to around 1.4 metres on its outer face, but its width of over five metres suggests it was once a serious piece of construction. At the centre of the interior, there is evidence of a possible souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage or chamber typically used for storage or refuge. When Ordnance Survey fieldworkers passed through in the 1840s and recorded what they found in the townland of Kilcolman, they noted that the rath sat close to a well, and that well remains adjacent to the northern edge of the enclosure today. The pairing of a ringfort with a nearby water source is not unusual, but the fact that it was remarked upon even then, and that the well survives, gives the site a thread of continuity that runs from the early medieval period through the nineteenth century and into the present.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Ringfort (Rath), Farranmanagh, Co. Kerry. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement