Ringfort (Rath), Killinane, Co. Cork

Co. Cork |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Killinane, Co. Cork

A circular earthen bank, roughly thirty metres across, sits on an east-facing slope at Killinane in north Cork, enclosing a heavily overgrown interior that tilts sharply downhill.

This is a rath, the commonest type of ringfort in Ireland, a form of enclosed farmstead typically built during the early medieval period. What makes this particular example quietly interesting is not the rath itself, but what surrounds it. Within a short distance, in two separate fields, lie a pair of fulachtaí fiadh, ancient cooking sites that predate the ringfort by thousands of years.

The rath's earthen bank survives to nearly two metres on its inner face, slightly less on the outer, with a fosse, a defensive ditch, running around the southern to west-north-western arc. A shallower fosse curves to the north-east, and on the upslope western side the ditch has been cut directly into the hillside. A two-metre-wide break in the bank to the south marks what was almost certainly the original entrance. The two fulachtaí fiadh nearby are a different matter entirely. A fulacht fiadh is essentially a burnt mound, the debris left by a Bronze Age cooking method in which water-filled troughs were heated using fire-cracked stones. They are common across Ireland but are rarely found clustering so closely around a later monument, suggesting this particular patch of north Cork farmland saw repeated, if intermittent, human activity across an enormous span of time.

The site sits in pasture, so the surrounding fields are likely farmed. The interior of the rath itself is described as heavily overgrown, which is typical of sites left undisturbed within grazing land. The eastward slope means the bank's profile is best appreciated from below, looking back up the hill toward the west.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Ringfort (Rath), Killinane, Co. Cork. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement