Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

National monument No. 459. Atop rise, in gently undulating pasture. Partially levelled monument the levelling of which was described in 1869 when Dunraven (1866-9, 433) recorded that the monument had 'been partly levelled for the purpose of tillage'.
Present remains consist of a circular-shaped area (52m N-S; 53m E-W) enclosed by an earthen bank (int. H 1.75m; ext. H 3.57m), with external fosse (Wth 2.8m; D 0.95m) ESE-NNE and SSE-SW; latter section covered by dense overgrowth. Bank best preserved NNE-NNW and SSE-SW; elsewhere it has been degraded to a scarped edge (H 0.5m; Wth 3.4m). Interior is under pasture and dips gently down towards centre. There is a shallow depression (10m E-W; 4m N-S; D c. 0.2m) to E of centre. Fosse is skirted by field /Ardvone townland boundary from SE-S-SW, this turns N and skirts fosse at W; this forms part of small field surrounding the site. This field is bounded by a public road marking the townland boundary with Ardagh immediately N of site and by a compound for two water towers immediately to NE. The monument appears to have been a bivallate ringfort as depicted on the first ed. OS map. The curving townland boundary to S and a low curving degraded bank visible at W may be the remains of a second enclosing bank. According to Dunraven there was a possible standing stone (LI028-102001-), known locally as; Reerasta Cloch' which had been built into the external face of the enclosing bank of the ringfort. This stone was described by Dunraven (1866-9, 434) as following; 'Formerly, a large stone, called Reerasta Cloch, stood on, or formed part of, the external face of the bank; this stone was broken up within the present century'.
Durnaven recorded the following about the discovery of an Early Christian hoard including the 8th century Ardagh Chalice at the ringfort in 1868. Dunraven (1866-9, 433) wrote that; 'Towards the end of September, 1868, her son [widow Quin, the owner] was digging potatos in the fort at the south-western side. On reaching the base of the bank, and close to a thorn bush, he found the surface soft: he drove the spade down between the roots of the thorn, and felt it strike against something hard, like metal. While clearing the earth and roots to see what this could be, he thrust down his hand, and laid hold of the long pin of a fibula. He then excavated to the depth of about three feet, and found a most beautiful cup laid in the earth, with a rough flag stone on one side of it, and inside the cup was a smaller cup and four fibulae. The small cup was the only article broken by the stroke of the spade. Excavations have been since made in the immediate vicinity of the spot where these articles were found, but nothing has turned up'. The landowner at the time was a widow named Quin who informed the Earl of Dunraven (1866-9, 433) that 'about twenty years ago, while tilling the ground, a beautiful chalice of gold was turned up about fifty yards west of the fort', however, 'one day her children took it out of the house to play with, and that she never saw it again.'
The hoard from the SW quadrant of the ringfort contained a silver chalice, a bronze chalice, and four brooches (de Paor 1977, 138). The silver chalice, known as the Ardagh Chalice, is 'the finest piece of eight-century metalwork' from Ireland (ibid.). This hoard is now kept in the National Museum of Ireland (NMI 1874:99).

Compiled by: Denis Power

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 11 June 2018

References

Dunraven, The Earl of. 1866-69 On an ancient cup and brooches, found near Ardagh in the County of Limerick. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 10, 458-9.

de Paor, L. 1977 The Christian triumph: The golden age. In P. Cone (ed.) Treasures of early Irish art, 1500 B.C. – 1500 A.D., 93-144. New York.