Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Internal diam. 30m WSW-ENE, c. 21m NNW-SSE
This oval rath is situated on the lower E slopes of Brandon mountain and commands a sweeping view along the Owenmore valley and across Brandon Bay as far as the central mountain ridge of the peninsula. A disused laneway runs ENE-WSW across the site, dividing it into 2 unequal portions. The larger NW portion is enclosed by a single earthen bank up to 1.8m high and an average of 1.33m wide at base. There is a featureless gap, .65m wide, at N. To SE of the lane, the bank has been removed, but the outline of the enclosure is preserved as a scarp which rises up to 1.8m above the external ground level. A low, narrow bank or wall skirts the edge of the platform, at a distance of c. 1.3m; this is a later feature, possibly defining a path around the site. The interior slopes gently downhill to SE and contains mounds and hollows which form no recognisable pattern. An Seabhac (1939, 227) recorded a souterrain in a ringfort in this townland, but it is not clear to which of the 3 known ringforts he refers.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 334. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 6 August 2013