Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Internal diam. 33m
This circular univallate rath is located on a NW facing slope on the E side of the valley of the Meennascarty river. It commands an excellent view along the valley and across the coastal plain as far as Tralee Bay. It was seriously modified in the 19th century by a track which zig-zagged across the site from NW to ENE and by the replacement of the bank between the 2 gaps with a field boundary fence; more recently the line of the track has been altered to run along the inner edge of the bank at W, exiting at the NW and S points. A small stream flows through the deep gully which skirts the outer edge of the bank along the W half of the enclosure. Here the bank rises 3.6m above the stream bed and is 2m high internally. The remaining SE section of the bank averages 2m in height internally and 1.3m externally and is 3m wide at base. This latter section is faced externally with herring-bone masonry; a similar style of masonry occurs in some of the adjacent field fences suggesting that the facing to the bank is a later addition relating to its use as a field boundary. The 3 breaks in the bank at ENE, S and NW relate to the track, but a 4th, at SE, may be the original entrance. It is 2m wide and lined to NE with drystone masonry and to SW by an upright slab. A 2nd jambstone occurs mid-way across the opening and to SW of this the gap is blocked with drystone walling, now collapsed. From a surface inspection alone it is not possible to establish the constructional sequence of these entrance features.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 432. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 7 August 2013