Ringfort (Rath), Nohaval Daly, Co. Cork

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Nohaval Daly, Co. Cork

A ringfort, or rath, is typically understood as a circular earthwork enclosure used as a farmstead in early medieval Ireland, but the one at Nohaval Daly carries a quieter and more layered identity.

Locally it has long been known as An Cillin, meaning the little church, a name that points to something beyond agricultural use. The rath sits within the northern half of a larger early ecclesiastical enclosure, meaning the fort itself was at some point folded into, or perhaps preceded, a place of Christian significance. The interior of the rath sits roughly three feet higher than the surrounding ground level of the outer enclosure, giving the whole arrangement a subtle sense of tiered importance.

The rath is nearly circular, measuring 35.4 metres north to south and 35.5 metres east to west, and is defined by a grass-covered earthen bank that still contains some stone. That bank survives for about five-sixths of its original circuit, with a stretch of roughly 25 metres to the south having been levelled at some point. A shallow external fosse, the ditch that typically runs outside such a bank, remains visible to the southeast and west. The interior surface is uneven, and a rock outcrop breaks the ground in the northeast quadrant. Writing in 1934, a researcher named Bowman described the site as a church site and burial ground occupying the northern end of the fort, which aligns with the local name and suggests the ecclesiastical use of the space was well-established in living memory, if not longer.

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