Ringfort (Rath), Scart, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Ringforts
Most ringforts in Ireland consist of a single earthen bank and ditch enclosing the homestead of an early medieval farming family.
The rath at Scart in County Kerry has three. That tripling of the defensive circuit, each bank separated from the next by its own fosse, or ditch, places it in a rarer category, one associated in the archaeological record with higher-status enclosures, where the elaboration of the boundary may have signalled rank as much as it provided protection.
The site sits on a west-facing slope with open views north-west towards the Slieve Mish Mountains, the long ridge that forms the spine of the Dingle Peninsula. The roughly circular interior measures about 23 metres east to west and 22.5 metres north to south. Three earthen banks define the enclosure, with the outermost being the broadest at nearly six metres wide, and the fosses between them running up to 2.8 metres across. One detail that repays attention is the levelling of the interior: the ground on the western side has been deliberately raised to compensate for the natural fall of the hillslope, which suggests considerable effort in the original construction. The innermost fosse remains visible all the way around the circuit, though the banks themselves survive only in sections, most clearly on the southern, western, and northern arcs. Along the north-east, a stream is actively cutting into the earthworks, gradually wearing away that portion of the rath.
