What is recorded here

Scotch Rath is a thirteen-metre earthen ring on a ridge in County Laois, holding a faint stone wall inside its scarp. It is the kind of place where human hands built a border around the unknown, then left the border open for whoever came after. The fairness of its shape suggests exclusion more than invitation, yet exclusion and invitation often share the same gate.

Reference to a fort here (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1907, vol. 1, 209). Situated on a ridge, immediately SE of bawn. A circular low earthen structure (D c. 13m) defined by a scarp and by the footage of a stone wall. 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

Scotch Rath is a circular, low earthen ringfort, likely dating to the early medieval period, characterized by a scarp and the remains of a stone wall. Local tradition and historical references associate such sites with ancient dwellings of early Irish settlers, and they are often linked in folklore to the supernatural, including fairies or other otherworldly beings.

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