Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Internal diam. 36m NE-SW, 31.2m NW-SE
Oonagranshee Cave / Uaigh na Grainsighe: This poorly preserved D-shaped site is situated in sloping pasture on the S side of Valencia Island. It survives as a roughly level platform, the surface of which has recently been disturbed, and contains in its interior two huts, a souterrain and a number of ambiguous features. Remnants of a low earthen enclosing bank, c.5m wide, survive from N to E and measure up to 1.5m high above external ground level. Four slabs, disposed end-to-end, revet part of its inner face at E. Elsewhere the platform does not rise appreciably above external ground level.

A rectangular house (KE087-018002-) in the interior measures 8.5m NW-SE x 5.8m x NE-SW internally, and its overgrown stone walls average .8m wide and .4m high. A well-defined doorway, .8m wide, is located in the SE end-wall; two threshold slabs remain in situ.A short stretch of stone-faced bank and a small stone-lined oval depression are located immediately adjacent to the external NE angle of the house; their functions are unclear. In the 1980s a trench was dug parallel to the NE side-wall of the house.

The foundations of a hut (KE087-018003-) of circular plan are located on the S side of the rectangular house and measure 4.8m in internal diameter. Its corbelled wall stands to a maximum height of .9m at NW, but its outer face is obscured by a build-up of earth. Two opposing gaps occur at ENE and WSW, and S of these the foundations of the hut are poorly defined. A 4.5m long, curving souterrain passage (KE087-018001-) extends out from the interior of the hut. Its lintels have been robbed. The drystone-built passage is filled with debris and its side-walls survive to a height of .9m. An opening, located outside the hut at E, may indicate an extension of the souterrain in this direction.

A subrectangular shallow depression, 3m x 1.3m, is located in the NE sector of the site. Its NW side and a short stretch of the opposite side are stone-lined. A 6.6m long stretch of a stone-faced earthen bank extends radially from the inner face of the enclosing bank at E.

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. 490. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 28 July 2013