Ringfort (Rath), Kilfinnan, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Kilfinnan, Co. Cork

A low scarp cutting across a sloped pasture in Kilfinnan, County Cork, is one of those things that rewards a second look.

What might at first appear to be a natural terrace in the ground is in fact the surviving edge of a ringfort, a circular enclosed settlement of the early medieval period, typically dating from roughly the fifth to the twelfth century. This one measures approximately 22 metres east to west, and though it has been partially levelled over time, the arc of its defining earthwork can still be traced from north-northeast round to the southeast.

What makes this particular example quietly interesting is the way the later landscape has folded around it. A stone field fence, about a metre high, runs from the south round to the northwest and follows the original line of the enclosure almost exactly, suggesting that whoever built the boundary wall recognised the old circuit and simply incorporated it into their own arrangement of the land. Outside the main enclosure, on the south-southwest to northwest arc, there is a silted-up fosse, the external ditch that would once have reinforced the perimeter. Perhaps most intriguing is the possible souterrain recorded in the interior. A souterrain is an underground passage or chamber, usually constructed from stone, associated with early medieval settlements and thought to have served for storage, refuge, or both. Whether this one survives intact beneath the pasture is uncertain, but its presence, even as a possibility, adds a subterranean dimension to what the surface alone suggests.

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Pete F
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