Ringfort (Rath), Clashganny, Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary |
Ringforts
What makes this particular site on the Clashganny ridge quietly remarkable is not any one feature in isolation but the density of ancient activity compressed into a small area of rough upland pasture.
This rath sits within metres of two other early medieval enclosures, one a fellow ringfort just four metres to the south-east, the other a more ambiguous enclosure two metres to the north-east. Three related monuments occupying the crest of the same northwest-facing slope suggests this was not a solitary farmstead but something more like a cluster of associated activity, the kind of early medieval settlement pattern that tends to get overshadowed by grander sites further down in the valleys.
The rath itself is circular, measuring roughly 26.7 metres north to south and 24 metres east to west, enclosed by a single earthen bank that stands about 0.75 metres on its exterior face and a little less on the interior. Those are modest dimensions, typical of the smaller end of the ringfort spectrum, a category of monument built across Ireland roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries as enclosed farmsteads for individual family groups. What lifts this one slightly out of the ordinary is the souterrain running east to west through the western interior. A souterrain is an underground stone-lined passage or chamber, usually associated with storage or refuge, and their presence inside ringforts is well documented though far from universal. The bank also shows signs of later interference: boulders appear to have been thrown up onto the northwestern section, probably by farmers clearing the surrounding pasture at some point after the monument fell out of use. Two gaps in the bank, one in the south and one in the east, may reflect original entrances or later breaches; the eastern gap is now largely obscured by gorse.