Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

External diam. 37m
A roughly circular univallate rath with souterrain situated on a fairly steep slope on the E side of the Meennascarty river valley. The enclosing bank survives only along the SW quadrant where it is .4m high internally, 1.4m high externally and 2.2m wide at base. From S through E to NE, a roadway skirts the enclosure and the road boundary fence may follow approximately the line of the original bank. For the remainder of the circumference the outline of the fort is marked by a scarp, the interior being up to 2.2m higher than the level of the surrounding field. A shallow depression, up to .1m deep, skirts the lower edge of this platform and possibly represents a fosse. The original entrance may have been to NW where, for a distance of 7m, the fosse is no longer evident and the scarp is reduced in height to 1.2m. A series of well-marked cultivation ridges in the interior may have contributed to the destruction of the bank.
An excavation in the ESE sector has revealed portion of a drystone-built souterrain KE036-050001- now for the most part inaccessible. A short creepway at the SW end of a NE-SW running passage leads to an approximately square chamber, and an opening in the NW wall of this latter leads to a further passage or chamber. The passage is .85m wide and .81m high, but only 1.6m of its length is now visible and accessible. The walls incline inwards slightly towards the lintelled roof. The drystone-built creepway opening off its SW end wall is .7m long, .34m wide and a maximum of .34m high. The chamber is about 2m square and of drystone construction. The opening in the NW wall presumably leads to a further passage or chamber. The cultivation ridges on the surface stop short of the excavation, avoiding a sub-circular area c. 10m in diameter. This may be due to the proximity of the souterrain roofing slabs to the surface or it may indicate the former presence of a hut-site.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 433. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 7 August 2013