Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on top of a ridge, with a fall of ground to S−SW. The rath now stands at the junction of several fields. Three fields, which abut the rath at NW, N and E, are occupied by modern houses with garden plots backing onto the rath. A pasture field borders the S arc of the rath.
This substantial, bivallate rath, named ‘Lissanierin’ on the 1838 and 1916 OS 6-inch maps, consists of a raised circular area (diam. 33.5m N−S; 32m E−W) defined by remnants of a bank, outside which it is enclosed by a fosse with an external bank.
The inner bank is largely reduced to a scarp (ext. H 0.8-1.2m). The fosse (Wth 4-4.5m) is well defined, broad and deep. The outer earthen bank (Wth 4.5m; int. H 1.9m; ext. H 1.3m) is substantial, with a broad internal slump into the fosse. It now serves as a field fence/property boundary, and the almost vertical external face is most likely a relatively recent modification related to this.
The interior is relatively level, with a very slight slope down to S. There is no clearly defined entrance; it may have been at ESE−SE where there is a hint of a causeway across the fosse (difficult to examine due to blackthorn scrub) and a break in the outer bank (Wth 4m at least).
The rath is thickly ringed with hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and brambles; the interior is thickly covered in long grass, with blackthorn scrub encroaching on it from the perimeter, especially at E. There is a local tradition of a souterrain (MA103-036001-) in the rath.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 11 November 2022