Ringfort (Rath), Lissard, Co. Galway

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Lissard, Co. Galway

Sitting in level grassland in the north-east corner of a field system near Lissard in County Galway, this well-preserved circular rath is the kind of early medieval enclosure that tends to be passed without a second glance by anyone unfamiliar with what they are looking at.

That would be a mistake. Measuring 43 metres in diameter, it retains two concentric earthen banks with an intervening fosse, the term for the ditch cut between or around the banks, giving it a distinctly layered profile when viewed from any angle. A double-banked rath of this condition is relatively uncommon, and the survival of the full circuit in recognisable form places this site well above the average for monuments of its type.

Ringforts, also called raths when their banks are earthen rather than stone, were the dominant settlement form in early medieval Ireland, broadly from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. They functioned as enclosed farmsteads, the banks and fosse serving to define a household's territory and offer some protection to people and livestock rather than any serious military defence. What makes this particular example worth closer attention is the detail of its entrance. A causewayed gap, 1.8 metres wide, opens at the north-east, leaving an uncut section of ground across the fosse so that people and animals could pass through without descending into the ditch. The south-east side of this entrance passage is stone-faced, a finishing touch that suggests some care was taken in the original construction. Adding further interest is the presence of a second ringfort just 175 metres to the south-west, raising the possibility that both enclosures were in use contemporaneously, perhaps by members of the same kin group farming adjacent land.

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Pete F
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