What is recorded here

Knox mistook the circular grove in Raheen for an ancient rath, but the tree ring, boundary wall and central seating belong to a much later ornamental design. The distinction matters because human creativity, not forgotten history, shaped the visible form. A person may have sat at the centre while watching the path curve back around them, turning a small rise into a room without a roof.

Described by Knox (1917-18, 119, no. 20) as 'a small rath, much altered for ornamental purposes, 48ft. by 36ft.' On inspection it proved to be a circular grove of trees on a rise c. Im above the surrounding land. Within the grove there was a circular pathway delimited by a wall and at its centre a seating area. It is a landscape feature of 19th/20th-century date. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 24 April 2015

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