Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

National monument No. 247. Situated on S facing slope or rising ground at the base of Knockfennell Hill, now standing 40m N of the NW shoreline of Lough Gur. On the first edition of the OS 6-inch map the ringfort is shown standing on the edge of the shoreline of Lough Gur. Ringfort stands on N side of Lough Gur, S of Knockfennell and to the NE of Ardaghlooda Hill. Loughgur House stands 300m to NW. Cashel (LI032-014006-) 195m to N, adjacent field system (LI032-014004-), stone circle (LI032-014005-) and possible settlement platform (LI032-014002-) 50m to W. Garret Island in the centre of Lough Gur 180m to S, with crannóg (LI032-012----) 300m to W.
Ringfort described in 1833 as 'a square earthen work, and on one of its points a grass-covered cairn (LI032-014005-), composed mostly of very small stones, although some squared masses, like those on Carrig-galla, were to be seen' (Croker 1833, 111). In 1944 the D-shaped ringfort was described as 'very roughly D shaped on plan. The E side is almost straight while the W is circular. It is a platform on the edge of which there is a bank. The latter is very slight and is mainly on the N side. The fort is partly carved out of the hill slope, which is steep on the N side of it and it is only on this side that a fosse occurs. On the S there is none as here the ground falls away from the monument and a certain amount of building up had to be done to make the structure approximately level, though it still has a considerable slope to the S. The entrance is not recognisable. It is 12' [3.6m] high on the S side and the max. diam. is 81' [25m]. The fort is the central feature of a system of ancient fences [LI032-014004-] which cover the lower slopes of a hill on this side. These fences are mainly earthen and among them are discernible a number of small enclosures or huts. On the SE side of it is the arc of stones [LI032-014005-] described above' (O'Kelly 1944, 48).
Described in 1978 as a 'ring-fort of platform type which has been partly scarped out of the slope of the ground. It is steepest on the north side where there is a bank and ditch and the ground falls away to the south, where a certain amount of building up had to be done. It measures 23m in average diam. It was excavated but is unpublished. The finds - ring pins, etc. implied an early Christian period date. The ringfort is at the centre of another system of ancient fields (LI032-014004-)' (O'Kelly and O'Kelly 1978, 41-2).
Today the outline of the roughly D-shaped ringfort with traces of a field system to NW are clearly visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 21 May 2018

References

Harbison, P. 1970 (Reprint 1992) Guide to the national monuments in the Republic of Ireland. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan.

O'Kelly, M.J. 1944 A survey of the antiquities in the barony of Small County, Co. Limerick. North Munster Antiquarian Journal 4, 16-53.

Croker, T.C. 1833 Druidical remains near Lough Gur,
Co. Limerick. Gentleman's Magazine (February
1833), 105–12.

O'Kelly, M.J., and O'Kelly, C. 1978 Illustrated guide to Lough Gur, Co. Limerick. Cork. Author.