The one at Frankford in County Kilkenny takes the opposite approach entirely. It sits at the highest point on the hill, on the northern edge of a terrace of rolling upland grassland, fully exposed to whatever the sky sends across it, with commanding views stretching out in every direction.

A ringfort, or rath, is the remains of a typically early medieval farmstead, its occupants once protected by an earthen bank and sometimes a ditch. The Frankford example survives as a circular flat-topped platform, measuring roughly 20 metres east to west and 17 metres north to south at its summit, widening to around 26 metres by 23 metres at the base. It rises between 1.4 and 2.2 metres above the surrounding ground, which is enough to give the structure a quietly deliberate presence in the landscape. Thousands of ringforts survive across Ireland, but their quality of preservation and their settings vary enormously. Here, the choice of location seems almost pointed: whoever raised this platform wanted elevation, exposure, and the ability to see, and be seen, across a wide stretch of upland country.