Ringfort (Rath), Carrigcleena More, Co. Cork
Co. Cork |
Ringforts
In the pastureland of Carrigcleena More, a circular earthen enclosure sits quietly overgrown, its name carrying a claim that far exceeds its modest dimensions.
The ringfort, known in Irish as Lisinteamhrach, translates roughly as "Little fort of the Royal Palace", a designation recorded by Bowman in 1934 that raises an obvious question: which royal palace, and what connection could this unassuming earthwork once have had to it?
Ringforts are among the most common archaeological monuments in Ireland, numbering in the tens of thousands, and most were farmsteads rather than fortifications in any military sense. They typically date from the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to twelfth centuries, and consist of a raised circular bank enclosing a domestic area. This one measures thirty metres across in both directions, enclosed by an earthen bank that still stands roughly 1.4 metres on the interior face and 1.5 metres on the exterior. Beyond the bank lies a fosse, a shallow ditch averaging about 0.8 metres deep, running from the south-southeast around to the north-northwest. The original entrance, at 3.2 metres wide, faces roughly east-southeast; a later cattle gap has been cut into the south-southwest. A laneway skirts the northern edge of the bank. Coniferous trees, planted at some point after the monument's active use, crowd the exterior to the south, south-southwest, and west, giving the site a somewhat enclosed, overshadowed quality despite its open pastoral setting.
The name Lisinteamhrach is what lingers. "Teamhair" or "Temair" in Irish place-names often carries an association with Tara, the ancient ceremonial seat of Irish high kingship, though whether this particular usage gestures toward a genuine historical connection, a local memory, or simply a piece of aspirational naming is now impossible to say with certainty. Bowman's 1934 record preserves the tradition without explaining it, which may be the most honest outcome possible for a site this old.