Ringforts, known in Irish as raths when constructed from earthen banks and ditches, were the farmsteads of their age, enclosing a family's dwelling, animals, and daily life behind a raised perimeter that offered a degree of security and status. There are estimated to be around 45,000 surviving examples across the island, yet each one occupies its own particular patch of ground, shaped by local topography, local families, and local histories that rarely made it into written records.