Ringfort (Rath), Curraghkiely, Co. Waterford
Co. Waterford |
Ringforts
Somewhere between the Comeragh Mountains and a low hill to the east, a circular earthwork sits quietly inside a coniferous plantation, its banks and ditches largely swallowed by tree cover. The site is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, which was the standard form of enclosed farmstead used across Ireland roughly from the Early Christian period through to the early medieval centuries. Most people are familiar with ringforts as open, grassy features on farmland; finding one folded into a managed forest, its outlines pressed against the terrain of a col, gives it a different quality altogether.
The enclosure measures 42 metres in diameter and is defined by a bank of earth and stone, four to five metres wide. The bank's height varies depending on which side you are standing: at the northern, downslope edge it rises only half a metre internally, while at the south it reaches nearly a metre. Externally, the northern face stands between 0.9 and 1.5 metres. Around part of the perimeter runs a U-shaped fosse, that is, a ditch dug to reinforce the barrier of the bank, here three to four metres wide and surviving to a depth of around 0.2 to 0.3 metres where it is still legible. A possible entrance gap, roughly 5.5 metres across, appears at the north-east. A second rath lies approximately 140 metres to the south-west, which is a notable proximity; paired or clustered ringforts occasionally indicate related family or farming units occupying adjacent ground over the same period.
The forest setting makes the earthwork harder to read at a glance than a freestanding rath on open pasture, but that same setting has probably helped preserve it. The varying bank heights reflect the natural slope of the col rather than any dramatic disturbance, and the intermittent fosse, though shallow, is still traceable. Visitors exploring the Comeraghs who happen to pass through this stretch of plantation should look for the subtle rise of the bank breaking through the needle floor, particularly on the southern arc where the interior height is at its most pronounced.