Ringfort, Killuney, Co. Galway
Co. Galway |
Ringforts
On the north-western slopes of a low hill in the pastureland of Killuney, there is nothing to see.
That, in a sense, is the point. Somewhere beneath the grass lies what local tradition insists was once a fort, complete with a tunnel running beneath it, and yet the ground gives nothing away. No earthwork, no raised bank, no hollow or depression marks the spot. The site has been absorbed entirely into the ordinary agricultural landscape around it.
The fort in question would originally have been a ringfort, the most common type of early medieval settlement in Ireland, typically consisting of a circular area enclosed by one or more earthen banks and ditches, used as a farmstead or residence. The tunnel tradition is consistent with what archaeologists call a souterrain, an underground passage or chamber constructed from stone, often found within or beside ringforts and thought to have served for storage, refuge, or both. Local memory of such features tends to be remarkably durable, persisting long after the physical structure itself has vanished through farming, erosion, or deliberate levelling. Here, the oral tradition is the only surviving record of what once stood on that hillside.