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Ringforts / Liosanna nó
Ráthanna nó Cathracha
By Isabel Bennett
Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne
  Ba insna liosanna a mhaireadh na feirmeoirí móra agus a dteaghlaigh.  Tugann seandálaithe liosanna nó ráthanna ar na cinn a bhfuil claí cré acu agus cathracha ar na cinn a bhfuil clocha sa chlaí.  Uaireanta bhíodh claí adhmaid anuas ar an gcré.  Bhí áiteanna eile a raibh trí cinn de chlathacha ann agus cúpla port lasmuigh, ag brath ar ghustal na n-áitrithheoirí.  Bhíodh tithe laistigh desna clathacha.  Clocháin a bhíodh iontu don gcuid is mó cé go mbaintí úsáid as ábhair eile chomh maith.  Bhíodh botháin i gcuid acu agus uaimh i gcinn eile.  Uaimh ana-shimplí a bhí i gCorca Dhuibhne.  Slándáil nó dídean an fheidhm a bhí acu.  Maireann na liosanna ón dtréimhse idir an 7ú agus an 10ú haois A.D.
   A very common monument type in Ireland is the site known in English as the ‘Ringfort’.  Well-to-do farmers and their families lived within these enclosures in which one can sometimes still see evidence for houses, usually round and made of stone in this area (clocháin), although other building materials were also used, which leave little or no trace today.  Other structures, possibly sheds and other out-buildings are sometimes also found.  Some sites have a souterrain or underground passage within them.  These features, generally of simple construction when found in Corca Dhuibhne, may have been used for storage and also possibly for refuge.  These monuments would have had a general date range of from the 7th to the 10th centuries AD. 
   These enclosures should, more accurately perhaps, be called by their original names, lios, rath, cathair or caiseal, all elements which are still to be seen in many place names in Ireland.  The former two are earthen monuments, the latter are built from stone.  The earthen forts may have had a palisade fence on top of the bank, and could have between one and three banks with external ditches or fosses, depending on the status of the inhabitants. 
  Society during this period was rural and tribal, with many petty kingdoms.  The economy consisted of a mixture of stock-raising and agriculture, with fishing being important in areas close to the sea. 
Excavations during the 1990s at Cathair na bhFionnúrach stone fort, in Baile na bhFionnúrach, facilitated by Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne, have shown us what a high-status cashel was like.  The enclosing wall of this site had internal terracing and steps, which would have facilitated defending the site, if necessary.  A wall chamber (and a second, now destroyed) could have been used for refuge and storage, and also perhaps to keep a prisoner!  The house in the site had two stone rooms, with a souterrain leading from the smaller one.  A stone path led from the entrance cashel to the door of the larger room.  Finds from the site included imported Mediterranean pottery, iron knives, a fragment of a miniature iron saw, fragments of blue glass bead and of a crucible, for pouring molten metal.  This, along with iron slag also found, indicates that metal objects were being manufactured on site.
Another well-known site in this area is Ráthanáin, situated on Mám na Gaoithe, near Ceann Trá.  This monument stands out because it was re-used in the Medieval period when a tower-house was built within it, and the enclosure was probably re-fortified, although it was originally a ringfort of the Early Medieval Period.  Please note that this monument is on private property.  

Further information about these and other monuments in the area, and a lot more besides, can be found in Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh (8 miles west of Dingle) www.westkerrymuseum.com.  A free leaflet, with detailed information about Cathair na bhFionnúrach, in Irish and in English, is also available in the museum, or you can see it at http://www.westkerrymuseum.com/ballynavenooragh.htm.  The museum opens for Easter on Saturday 16 April and will be open from 10.00 am – 5.00 pm every day until May 2.  Beidh fáilte romhat!  Tel: 066-9156333 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and you can also find us on Facebook (search for Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne or for Dingle Peninsula Museum).