Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Ringfort - rath
Letter (Iveragh By.), County Kerry, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Letter (Iveragh By.)
- County
- Kerry
- Country
- Ireland
- Latest-edition OS map
- Hachured
- Coordinates
- 51.92778, -10.21275
- SMR number
- KE079-069----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1841 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Internal diam. 25m N-S, 27m E-W
This poorly preserved univallate rath is located on the W bank of a tributary of the Oghermong river and affords an excellent view from S to W of Ballinskelligs Bay and Valencia Harbour. A N-S roadway bisects the site. The enclosing element at E is gapped in several places. At W the bank rises 2.3m externally and 2m internally. It has an average basal width of 4.1m and features a possible entrance gap at W, 2.1m wide. The bank is composed of earth and gravel and is intermittently revetted internally with upright slabs and horizontal coursing.
An oblong-shaped mound occurs within the SW quadrant of the rath's interior. It may be sod-covered upcast from the roadway. Elsewhere, the interior is rather bumpy and uneven. A lintelled opening to a souterrain (KE079-069001-) occurs at the inner base of the bank at NW. The souterrain, though not accessible, appears to run N beneath the bank. The external face of the bank bulges at this point.
The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 533. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.
Date of upload: 29 July 2013
Nearby in the register
- Souterrainunder 1 mi
- Hut siteunder 1 mi
- Ringfort - rathunder 1 mi
- Castle - unclassifiedunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.