Ringfort, Rathnabo, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Ringforts

Ringfort, Rathnabo, Co. Wicklow

What makes the ringfort at Rathnabo quietly interesting is not just its survival but its complexity.

Rather than the simple circular enclosure that most people picture when they hear the term ringfort, this site on a north-west-facing slope in County Wicklow turns out to be a two-part arrangement, with a secondary enclosure attached to the main one, suggesting a more elaborate use of the ground than a single family farmstead might require. Ringforts, broadly speaking, were the enclosed farmsteads of early medieval Ireland, typically dating from roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, and they survive in their thousands across the island, though rarely with this kind of annexe still legible in the earthworks.

The main enclosure is oval, measuring around 28 metres north-west to south-east and 22 metres in the other direction. It is defined by an earthen bank that varies considerably in width, reaching 7 metres on the eastern side but narrowing to between 2.5 and 3 metres elsewhere, with an external fosse, or ditch, running alongside it. The interior is slightly terraced and drops sharply from south-east to north-west, where the natural slope has been partly cut and shaped to reinforce the defences. Entry was via a ramp and a gap just over a metre wide in the north-western bank. Attached to the north-east is a roughly subrectangular enclosure, somewhat larger at around 34 by 32 metres, with its own earthen bank and what may be original gaps at the north-east and south. The narrow passage between the two enclosures, less than a metre wide, implies the connection between them was carefully controlled rather than simply convenient.

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