Rath Oscar, Rathoscar, Co. Kilkenny
Sitting on the end of a small ridge in County Kilkenny's rolling grassland, Rath Oscar commands impressive views over the Goul and Rathlogan river valleys below.
Rath Oscar, Rathoscar, Co. Kilkenny
This ancient ringfort occupies a strategic position at the natural break between the gently sloping valley sides and the steep uplands, a location that would have offered both defensive advantages and panoramic surveillance of the surrounding countryside to its early medieval inhabitants.
The site consists of a roughly circular enclosure measuring approximately 29 metres across its interior, defined by a substantial earthen bank that still stands impressively today. The bank itself is about 3 metres wide and rises to between 1.2 and 1.5 metres on the inner side, whilst reaching a full 3 metres in height when viewed from outside. Unlike many similar ringforts, there’s no evidence of an external fosse or defensive ditch; the surrounding fields have been reclaimed for agriculture right up to the foot of the bank over the centuries.
Historical records from the Ordnance Survey Letters of 1839 provide an intriguing detail about the site’s past, noting the presence of stone building remains within the interior of the fort. These structures, now catalogued as a separate archaeological feature, suggest that Rath Oscar continued to be occupied or utilised well beyond its initial construction period, possibly serving various functions throughout its long history. The site was documented by O’Flanagan in 1930 and more recently compiled for modern records by Jean Farrelly in November 2017.