Rathard, Garryheakin, Co. Limerick
Sitting atop a 157-metre hill in Rathard, Garryheakin, County Limerick, this circular earthwork offers commanding views across the surrounding countryside.
Rathard, Garryheakin, Co. Limerick
National Monument No. 555 consists of a raised circular platform, 22 metres in diameter, enclosed by a substantial earth and stone bank. The bank varies in height around its circuit, standing 3.25 metres tall on the western side and 2.55 metres on the eastern side, with an interior height of just 0.2 metres. A 4-metre wide gap in the bank at the south-southeast provides access to the interior.
The monument’s defensive features include a deep fosse, or ditch, measuring 8.8 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep, which runs northeast to southwest around the structure. A causeway, also 4 metres wide, crosses this ditch at the south-southeast entrance. Beyond the fosse lies an outer bank, considerably smaller than the inner one at 4 metres wide, with an interior height of 0.7 metres and exterior height of 0.3 metres. This outer bank follows the same northeast to southwest alignment and opens widely at the south-southeast to accommodate the causeway entrance.
Today, the monument’s interior remains level and grass-covered, enclosed by modern field boundaries to the south, west, and north, whilst the eastern side opens onto a steep slope. The variation in bank heights and the careful positioning of the entrance suggest this ringfort was designed to take full advantage of its elevated position, combining natural defences with constructed earthworks. Compiled by Alison McQueen and Vera O’Rahilly, this site stands as a well-preserved example of Ireland’s early medieval defensive structures.





