Ringfort (Rath), Galboola, Co. Limerick

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Galboola, Co. Limerick

Sitting in rough pasture on a gently east-facing slope in County Limerick, this ringfort carries within its modest earthworks a compressed record of how the same ground can be put to entirely different uses across many centuries.

What makes it quietly odd is that the interior, which would once have served as an enclosed farmstead or defended homestead of the early medieval period, was later cut through by a series of four lazy beds. Lazy beds are narrow cultivation ridges, traditionally formed by turning soil up from either side of a trench, and their presence here means that whoever was working this land in more recent centuries was ploughing straight through the remains of the earlier settlement without much ceremony.

The site was recorded and compiled by Denis Power, with details uploaded in November 2013. It takes a roughly sub-circular shape, measuring 18 metres north to south and 22 metres east to west, defined on one side by a scarped edge, essentially a cut into the slope, running from the west-northwest to the south-southwest, and on the other by a low earthen bank. A gap of around six metres breaks the scarp on the eastern side, which likely marks the original entrance. Beyond the main enclosure, a shallow external fosse, meaning a ditch, traces an arc from south to northeast, though it survives to a depth of only around 0.2 metres. At the southern end, cattle erosion has worn down the scarp further still. In the centre of the interior, a hut site has been recorded separately, catalogued under the reference LI023-305, suggesting that evidence of a structure once stood within the enclosure itself.

Access to the site is across rough pasture, so practical footwear is advisable, and the usual courtesies around farmland apply. Because the earthworks are low, rarely exceeding half a metre in height, the site rewards close attention rather than distant viewing. The lazy beds running through the interior on a north-northwest to south-southeast axis are easier to read in low, raking light, particularly on a clear morning when the east-facing slope catches the early sun at an oblique angle. That same light can help pick out the faint line of the external fosse, which is shallow enough to disappear entirely in summer when vegetation is at its fullest.

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Pete F
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