Ringfort (Rath), Kilcolman (Shanid By.), Co. Limerick
Co. Limerick |
Ringforts
Two ringforts sitting side by side in a Limerick field is unusual enough, but what makes this site in Kilcolman, in the old barony of Shanid, particularly interesting is the strong likelihood that these two enclosures were once a single, conjoined settlement before a later field boundary physically divided them.
The companion fort, recorded separately in the archaeological inventory, lies immediately to the north-east, and the earthwork between them reads less like a natural separation than an imposed one, a line drawn through something that was originally whole.
Ringforts, known in Irish as raths when constructed from earth, were the dominant form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically dating from roughly the sixth to the twelfth century. They served as enclosed farmsteads, the bank and external fosse (a shallow ditch running around the outside of the bank) providing a degree of security for a household and its livestock rather than any serious military defence. This example is sub-circular in plan, measuring approximately 22 metres across in both directions. The enclosing earthen bank survives to an internal height of around 0.7 metres and an external height of 1.55 metres, with its best-preserved stretch running from the south-south-east around to the south. Two gaps in the bank, one at the south-south-west measuring about 2.5 metres wide and another at the west-south-west at just over a metre, likely indicate original entrances. The fosse is clearest on the north-east to south-south-east arc and gradually shallows before disappearing entirely on the south-western and western sides. The record was compiled by Denis Power and uploaded to the national inventory in August 2011.
The fort sits in rough pasture on a gentle west-facing slope, set just below the crest of a steep-sided hill, which gives it a quietly commanding position without being obviously prominent from a distance. The interior slopes gently southward under grass. Because the enclosing bank has been clipped on its northern side by a modern east-west field boundary, the full circuit is no longer visible on the ground, and it takes a little patience to trace the surviving earthworks around to where they fade. Visiting in late autumn or winter, when the vegetation is lower, makes the bank profile and the remnant fosse considerably easier to read.