Ringfort (Rath), Scrallaghbeg, Co. Kerry

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Scrallaghbeg, Co. Kerry

In the corner of a field near the Glannagalt river on the Dingle Peninsula, a low semi-circular platform rises barely half a metre above the surrounding ground.

It is easy to walk past without a second glance, and that is precisely what makes it interesting. What looks like a natural undulation in the earth is most likely the eroded remnant of a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, the type of enclosed farmstead that was the standard unit of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, roughly from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. Thousands survive across the country in varying states of preservation; this one, measuring about 25 metres along its longer axis and 13 metres across, sits quietly at Scrallaghbeg, its outline softened by time.

The platform was recorded in J. Cuppage's 1986 archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region, which catalogued the remarkable concentration of prehistoric and early historic monuments across the Dingle Peninsula. At the time of that survey, local knowledge held that a cave had formerly been visible at the site. Such features associated with ringforts are not unusual; many raths incorporated a souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage used for storage or as a place of refuge, and it is possible that is what local memory was preserving. Whether any trace of that feature remains is unclear, but its mention adds a layer of interest to what might otherwise read as an unremarkable earthwork.

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Pete F
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