Ringfort (Rath), Tarmon Hill, Co. Kerry

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Tarmon Hill, Co. Kerry

On Tarmon Hill in County Kerry, a circular earthwork sits largely as it was left, probably over a thousand years ago, its bank and ditch still describing a near-perfect ring in the landscape.

This is a univallate rath, meaning a ringfort enclosed by a single bank and fosse, the fosse being the external ditch dug to reinforce the barrier. These structures were the farmsteads and defended enclosures of early medieval Ireland, and thousands survive across the country in varying states of preservation. What makes this one worth attention is how well its proportions have endured.

The internal space measures roughly 30 metres north to south and 28 metres east to west, an area comfortably large enough to have sheltered a family, their animals, and the small structures of daily life. The enclosing bank rises 2.5 metres above the outer ground level and around 1.6 metres above the interior, with a base width of 6 metres, which gives it a solid, deliberate heft rather than the worn, barely-there ridges that many comparable sites have become. The external fosse, cut to channel water away and discourage entry, runs to about 1.8 metres wide and half a metre deep. Two original entrance gaps survive, one to the north-east at 3 metres wide and a narrower one of 2 metres to the south-east, suggesting the enclosure was designed with a specific flow of movement in mind, perhaps separating the approach used by people from one used for livestock. These details come from C. Toal's North Kerry Archaeological Survey, published in 1995, which remains a key reference for early monument recording in this part of the county.

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