Ringfort (Rath), Rampere, Co. Wicklow
Co. Wicklow |
Ringforts
Some of Ireland's most significant ancient sites exist only as absences.
At Rampere in County Wicklow, a ringfort once occupied a gentle north-facing slope, its circular earthworks measuring roughly thirty metres across. Today there is nothing to see at ground level. The site has been completely levelled, leaving no trace for a walker who might pass directly over it.
A ringfort, or rath, is a circular enclosure defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, typically dating from the early medieval period and used as a farmstead or settlement. The Rampere example was recorded on the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps of both 1838 and 1907, meaning it survived intact well into the twentieth century. At some point after that second mapping, the earthworks were removed entirely, most likely through agricultural improvement or land clearance. The circular outline of the site can still be detected in aerial photography, where differences in soil composition and crop growth betray the ghost of the old enclosure beneath the surface.