Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Castle - ringwork
Ashfort, County Limerick, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Ashfort
- County
- Limerick
- Country
- Ireland
- Latest-edition OS map
- Hachured (1924)
- Coordinates
- 52.60828, -8.66822
- SMR number
- LI013-076----
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
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
This monument was excavated in 1997 and 1998 by Audrey Gahan, ADS (97E0285), in advance of the N20/N21 Adare-Anacotty road scheme. She described the monument as c. 30m diam, with a still extant bank measuring in places 1m above present ground level. Sections excavated through the ditch showed it to be roughly U-shaped and on average 4.2m wide and 1.5m deep. It was filled to a large extent by slippage from the bank and no organic remains were recovered. A sherd of medieval pottery was recovered from the fill.
The bank was composed of redeposited subsoil, almost certainly upcast from the ditch construction. Within the bank, two whetstones and part of a rotary quern were recovered. Internal features consisted of a scatter of post-holes, which indicated no apparent structure. She suggests the site may be a ringwork rather than a ringfort and therefore date to the 12th century. (http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/Details.php?Year=&County=Limerick&id=1304)
Compiled by: Denis Power
Date of upload: 24 April 2013
Nearby in the register
- Ringfort - rathunder 1 mi
- Fulacht fiaunder 1 mi
- Bawnunder 1 mi
- Bridgeunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.