Ringfort (Rath), An Mhuiríoch, Co. Kerry

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), An Mhuiríoch, Co. Kerry

Most ringforts in Ireland occupy elevated ground, placed on hillsides or drumlin crests where they command a view and announce a presence.

The rath at An Mhuiríoch sits differently, settled on low-lying land at the eastern edge of Smerwick Harbour on the Dingle Peninsula, where the logic of position seems to favour the water's edge over any commanding prospect. That alone makes it worth a second look.

A rath is a type of ringfort, typically built during the early medieval period as a farmstead enclosure, defined by one or more earthen banks and a fosse, which is the accompanying ditch cut to provide the material for the bank. This one is roughly circular, running about 28.6 metres north to south and 29.8 metres east to west. The inner bank still rises up to 2.4 metres above the bottom of the fosse and is revetted on its interior face with drystone masonry, a detail that suggests some care in its original construction. The fosse itself varies between 2.4 and nearly 4 metres wide. A short stretch of outer bank survives on the western side, less than a metre high but still measurable, and the landowner recalls a low wall once running around the whole perimeter, which would suggest the outer enclosure was once more complete than what remains today. Three entrance points have been identified. Two, facing east and west in direct opposition to each other, are now blocked with drystone walling and may have been added or altered at a later date. The third, facing south-southeast, preserves a causeway crossing the fosse and a gap through the bank just 1.4 metres wide, its sides once lined with drystone walling of which only two courses survive. The site was documented by J. Cuppage in the 1986 Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey and carries a preservation order dating from 2000.

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