Ringfort (Rath), Glantane, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Glantane, Co. Cork

On a gently sloping, north-facing field in Glantane, Co. Cork, a roughly circular earthwork sits quietly in pasture, its low banks and shallow ditch still legible in the landscape after more than a thousand years.

This is a rath, the most common type of ringfort found across Ireland, a class of enclosed farmstead built predominantly during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Thousands survive in various states across the island, yet each one retains something individual in its proportions and layout, and this example is no exception.

The enclosure measures approximately 33.5 metres north to south and 31.5 metres east to west, making it a reasonably substantial example of the type. It is defined by an earthen bank that stands around 1.5 metres above the interior ground level and approximately 1.2 metres above the exterior. A formal entrance, roughly 2.4 metres wide, faces north-north-west, while a separate break in the bank to the south-east, about 2 metres across, may represent a secondary opening or a later breach. Beyond the bank to the north-north-west, the external fosse, a defensive ditch that would originally have been dug to throw up the bank material, survives as a gentle slope descending to the base of the earthwork. It is a subtle feature now, reduced by centuries of cultivation and animal movement, but once it would have given the enclosure a more pronounced and deliberate profile.

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