What is recorded here

No visible castle, no church tower, no grand estate. A hidden ring on a west-facing slope in Rathduff, County Cork, still holds its shape: twenty-nine metres across, with an earthen bank two metres high and a shallow outer ditch at the west and northwest. The east bank has been taken into the field fence, and the interior was built up against the falling ground. That is a made place, not a random heap of soil. It may have been a farmstead, a stronghold, a boundary marker or a forgotten neighbourhood centre. The fairness of its circle suggests pride, and the gaps in the bank suggest age.

In pasture, on W-facing slope. Circular area (29.8m E-W; 29m N-S) defined by earthen bank (H 2.2m); external fosse survives as shallow depression to W and NW. Bank incorporated into field fence system to E; gaps to W and NW. Interior raised on W side to compensate for hillslope. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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