Ringfort (Rath), Knockmorris, Co. Westmeath

Co. Westmeath |

Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Knockmorris, Co. Westmeath

At the foot of a steep hill in County Westmeath, surrounded by marshy ground, sits a ringfort that has clearly had a difficult few centuries.

The earthen bank that once enclosed it is fragmentary, its interior pockmarked by quarry holes dug at some point after the site fell out of use. What remains is a sub-circular enclosure of roughly thirty metres north to south and thirty-two metres east to west, modest in scale and quietly battered by time and practical necessity.

Ringforts, sometimes called raths, are among the most common archaeological monument types in Ireland, typically dating from the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. They served as enclosed farmsteads, the earthen bank defining a boundary around a household's dwelling and outbuildings. This particular example sits at the base of an east-facing slope, a position that would have offered decent views to the north and south while the hill behind provided natural shelter. A stream forty metres to the west marks the boundary with the neighbouring townland of Fulmort, and a second ringfort lies approximately 190 metres to the north-west, suggesting this was once a reasonably settled stretch of landscape despite the boggy ground that now surrounds it. The quarrying that disturbed the interior indicates the site was later seen as a convenient source of material rather than as something worth preserving, a fate shared by many such monuments across the country.

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Pete F
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