Ringfort (Rath), Cabragh, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Cabragh, Co. Cork

On the crest of a ridge in Cabragh, breaking through rough grazing land and scattered rock outcrop, there sits a ringfort that still holds much of its shape after more than a thousand years.

A ringfort, or rath, is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, typically built to protect a family, their livestock, and their stores; tens of thousands once dotted the Irish countryside, yet each one that survives intact is worth pausing over. This one is roughly circular, measuring about 25 metres east to west and 24 metres north to south, enclosed by an earthen bank that rises to a maximum height of two metres and is faced with stone along its inner side from the north-northeast around to the south-southwest.

The entrance, at 3.4 metres wide, opens to the northeast, and there is a secondary break in the bank to the southeast. Inside, the ground slopes gently down towards the east, and set against the western bank is the circular foundation of a hut site, approximately 13 metres east to west and 11 metres north to south. A low stone wall survives along the southern to northwestern arc of this inner structure, with collapsed walling elsewhere. The combination of the earthen enclosure bank and the remnant hut foundation gives a clear, if partial, picture of how a small settlement would have been organised within its own defended perimeter, the domestic space tucked close to the bank's shelter while the more open interior was left for other uses.

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Pete F
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