What is recorded here

Red Castle Fort is a massive bivallate earthen ringfort atop high ground in County Laois, Ireland. Its twelve-metre outer bank and deep surrounding ditches still trace a subcircular enclosure nearly one hundred and twenty metres across. A small cottage now sits inside the ancient earthworks, built for a First World War veteran on the low platform marked as the Redcastle. The fort stands as a faded but unbroken boundary between human memory and older, unnamed occupancy.

Situated atop high ground with good panoramic views in all directions. A massive subcircular bivallate earthen ringfort (max. ext. diam. c. 120m) defined by an inner bank (Wth c. 3.7m), best preserved at S, an intervening fosse (Wth c. 7.5m), and an outer bank (Wth c. 9m) and an outer fosse (Wth c. 5-5m, int. D c. 2.7m, ext. D c. 1m) except at S. Site of unclassified castle (LA017-002001-) lies in the interior, the site of which is marked by a cottage built for a WW1 veteran that was built on top of a low platform that indicates the site of the 'Redcastle'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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