This one, in the townland of Killoveenoge in West Cork, was built right up against a cliff. Whether that proximity was deliberate, a statement of confidence or a defensive calculation, is hard to say now, but the effect is striking: a circular enclosure poised at the limits of solid ground.

The fort is a rath, the most common type of early medieval enclosed settlement in Ireland, typically dating from roughly the sixth to the twelfth century. A rath consists of a circular area enclosed by one or more earthen banks, and was most often the homestead of a farming family of some local standing. This particular example measures thirty metres across in both directions, making it a modest but complete specimen. It sits atop a natural knoll, which would have given it a modest elevation over the surrounding pasture even before the bank was raised. That bank survives to a height of around 1.6 metres along the southern to northern arc, while the remaining circuit takes the form of a scarp, a steep natural or cut slope, rather than a built-up bank. The knoll itself likely contributed to the defensive profile of the site, reducing the labour needed to enclose and overlook the surrounding ground.