Ringfort (Rath), Mitchelstown, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Mitchelstown, Co. Cork

On a grassy knoll in the former demesne of Mitchelstown Castle, a ringfort once occupied its own modest elevation, looking out over land that was, for centuries, part of Carriganroche Wood.

Today there is nothing to see. The fort has been levelled so completely that no surface trace remains, and the only evidence of its former presence above ground is a scattering of tree stumps.

A ringfort, or rath, is typically an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, defined by one or more circular earthen banks and ditches. This particular example was approximately 30 metres in diameter and took the form of a penannular arc, meaning the enclosing bank ran in a near-complete circle, open at one arc between the south-west and south-east. It was still visible enough in 1935 to be recorded on the Ordnance Survey six-inch map for that year, rendered in the hachured style used to indicate earthworks. At some point after that survey it was removed, absorbed into the pasture that now covers the knoll, within the wider demesne that once surrounded Mitchelstown Castle.

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