Ringfort (Rath), Garrylaun, Co. Kilkenny

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Garrylaun, Co. Kilkenny

A low earthen ring sits in the grassland near Garrylaun in County Kilkenny, unremarkable at a glance yet quietly insistent once you know what you are looking at.

The bank, rising to at least 1.7 metres on its outer face, encloses a roughly circular space some 31 metres across, which is a typical footprint for a rath, the commonplace term for an earthen ringfort. These structures were built throughout early medieval Ireland, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and served primarily as enclosed farmsteads for a single family or small household. Thousands survive across the country in varying states of preservation, though many have been reduced or erased entirely by the demands of agriculture.

This particular example sits on gently rising ground on the western side of a small north-to-south valley, a positioning that would have made practical sense to whoever chose the spot. The elevated situation offers clear views in all directions, useful both for watching livestock and for keeping an eye on who might be approaching. The bank itself, between three and four metres wide overall, would originally have been accompanied by a fosse, a surrounding ditch from which the earth was dug to raise the bank, though no trace of one is visible here today. The original entrance has also disappeared, most likely lost to centuries of cultivation that have smoothed and levelled the surrounding land. The interior, roughly 31 metres in diameter, is now flat and featureless, giving no surface clue to whatever domestic life once played out within it.

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Pete F
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