Ringfort (Rath), Feohanagh, Co. Limerick

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Feohanagh, Co. Limerick

A public road cuts straight through the middle of this ancient enclosure near Feohanagh in County Limerick, dividing what was once a unified circular space into two unequal halves.

It is an odd sight, or rather an odd non-sight, because most people who drive that road will have no idea they are passing through the interior of a structure that is likely well over a thousand years old. The road, running roughly southwest to northeast, slices across the site to the southeast of its original centre, and daily traffic moves through it without ceremony.

The site is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, which was the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically used as a farmstead enclosed by earthen banks for both status and security. This particular example sits on level ground and describes a roughly circular area of about 40 metres in diameter. Its defining feature is a scarped edge, meaning the ground has been cut and shaped rather than built up, with a drop of around 0.9 metres and a width of approximately 1.2 metres. Beyond that edge lies an external fosse, essentially a ditch, measuring around 0.9 metres deep and 3.8 metres wide. These are modest but legible dimensions, enough to give the original enclosure a clear presence in the landscape. The site was recorded by Denis Power and uploaded to the archaeological record in August 2011.

Visiting requires a little patience and some adjustment of expectations. The southeastern portion of the rath, on one side of the road, has been swallowed almost entirely by overgrowth and offers little to see without considerable effort. The northwestern section fares better, sitting in open pasture where the scarped edge and fosse are more likely to be traceable on foot. The earthworks are subtle rather than dramatic, so it is worth walking the perimeter slowly and looking for the slight but consistent change in ground level that marks the old boundary. As with many such sites in agricultural land, the best visibility tends to come in late autumn or winter, when vegetation has died back and low-angled light throws shallow earthworks into relief.

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Pete F
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