Ringfort (Rath), Granagh, Co. Limerick

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Granagh, Co. Limerick

A slight depression in a pasture field, a low earthen edge, and a shallow outer ditch are all that remain to mark out this ringfort near Granagh in County Limerick, yet the geometry is still readable in the landscape if you know what you are looking for.

Ringforts, sometimes called raths, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically enclosing a farmstead within one or more circular earthen banks. This one sits quietly on a west-facing slope, its modest dimensions and low profile meaning it could easily be passed off as a natural undulation by anyone unfamiliar with the type.

The enclosure measures 30.4 metres east to west, defined by a scarped edge, that is, a deliberately cut or shaped slope in the ground, standing roughly 0.6 metres high and 1.5 metres wide. Beyond that edge lies an external fosse, a term for a ditch or trench, which here is relatively slight at 0.3 metres deep and 1.1 metres wide. Together, the scarp and fosse would once have formed a clear boundary between the enclosed domestic space and the surrounding farmland. A field boundary running northwest to southeast skirts the enclosure along its northeastern side, suggesting that later agricultural organisation of the land took the ringfort's outline partly into account, or at least worked around it. The record was compiled by Denis Power and uploaded in August 2011.

The interior slopes gently northward and is partially covered by overgrowth, which can make the full extent of the enclosure harder to read on the ground than it appears on a map. Approaching through pasture, visitors should look for the subtle change in level where the scarped edge begins, and trace the arc of it around the perimeter. The fosse on the outside is shallow enough that it might read more as a faint linear shadow than a proper ditch, particularly in dry summer conditions when grass growth is uniform. Autumn or late winter, when vegetation dies back and low-angled light rakes across the ground, tends to reveal earthworks of this kind most clearly.

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Pete F
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