Moydilliga
ringfort, Co. Cork
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
The ringfort in the
townland of Moydilliga, also spelt as Modeligo, is situated in the Barony of
Condons and Clangibbon in County Cork and in the civil parish of Knockmourne.
The ringfort lies on the north side of the public road on a bend in the road.
Yet of more interest is that the road is ancient ridgeway track route which can
be traced from Tallow Hill in the east as far as Kilbarry townland in the west.
Moydilliga ringfort stands at height level 348 feet.[1]
The ringfort (in the group of trees) as seen from the west
From
the ringfort the valley of the Blackwater can be seen down the northern slope
while the Bride river valley can be seen down the south facing slope. It is
this meeting of the four main points on the compass which contributed to the
location of the ringfort in its present site. The term ringfort is a bit of a
misnomer as possibly most ringforts were just fortified farm steads.[2] An
interestingly hill in Ballydorgan townland, to the west of Moydilliga ringfort
(at 582 feet) is called Cnoc na Macra or Hill of the Elite.[3]
Entrance looking inwards
The entry in the Archaeological Inventory of County Cork
says of Moydilliga ringfort that it lies in pasture on gentle north facing
slope and is roughly circular in area (c. 50 meters E-W). The ringfort is
enclosed by an earthen bank (internal height 1.6 meters; external height 1.7
meters) with an external fosse that is about 1.2 meters in depth. The law
tracts give 1.83 meters as the bank height of a royal ringfort but there is no
tradition of Moydilliga being a royal site.[4]
There is a break in the bank to north (width 4 meters) with a causewayed entrance to east (width 4.2 meters).[5] Most ringforts had an east facing entrance.[6] The interior slopes down gently to north and is heavily overgrown with trees. There is evidence for quarrying in north-northwest quadrant.[7] On the outer edge of that NW quadrant somebody has built an almost circular stone structure into the bank of the ringfort, possibly as an early grass silage silo.[8]
Entrance looking out
There is a break in the bank to north (width 4 meters) with a causewayed entrance to east (width 4.2 meters).[5] Most ringforts had an east facing entrance.[6] The interior slopes down gently to north and is heavily overgrown with trees. There is evidence for quarrying in north-northwest quadrant.[7] On the outer edge of that NW quadrant somebody has built an almost circular stone structure into the bank of the ringfort, possibly as an early grass silage silo.[8]
The unknown stone structure
In the absence of an
archaeological work on the site it is difficult to know what Moydilliga
ringfort looked like in its day, about 1500 years ago. It possibly had a timber
palisade fence on top of the bank and a fortified gatehouse. Inside the
ringfort there were possibly a number of circular timber houses for people located
near the centre and animal pens around. Yet a few excavated ringforts have
displaced no domestic function and were just cattle enclosures or sites of
industrial use.[9]
The south bank and ditch with the stone tower beyond
About 20 meters to the east of the ringfort is a tall square roofless tower. The tower dates to the late nineteenth century and was depicted on the 1905 Ordinance Survey map as adjacent to a now vanished avenue to Modeligo House. The tower measures 2.9 meters east-west and 2.9 meters north-south and is about 8 meters in height. Inside the tower are socket-holes for a wooden stairs no long gone. An article in the Cork Examiner of 18th December 1931 said that the tower was built by Mr. Braddell (the local landlord) so he could watch the hunt in his old age.[10]
Stone tower with the ringfort in the trees beyond
On the east side of the
now vanished avenue heading north to Modeligo House was a now levelled
enclosure. This was depicted on the 1905 and 1935 Ordinance Survey maps as a
diamond shaped enclosure (c. 40 meters north-south and c. 40 meters east-west) planted
with trees. The age of this levelled enclosure is unknown. It was levelled in
the 1980s during land reclamation.[11] The
avenue was not depicted on the 1840 Ordinance Survey map.[12]
About 80 meters to the
south east of the levelled enclosure was a circular enclosure which was also
levelled in the 1980s during land reclamation. The enclosure was depicted on
the 1905 and 1935 Ordinance Survey maps of about 38 meters in diameter.[13]
About 1300 meters to
the north-east of Moydilliga ringfort, is an interesting ringfort that was
deliberately bisected by a public road sometime before 1840. People in the past
normally avoided ringforts and stayed away from harming them as the home of the
fairies.[14]
Clearly somebody before 1840 had no such inhibitions.
The Moydilliga ringfort
and the surrounding ringforts are part of the most numerous archaeological
monument type in the country. Most ringforts date to the Early Christian period
(500-1000 AD) and the vast majority are single bank forts termed univallate
like at Moydilliga.[15]
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End of post
===============
[2] Stout,
M., The Irish Ringfort (Dublin,
2000), pp. 19, 32
[3]
Name of the hill supplied by Patrick O’Brien to the author on 15th
November 2014
[4] Stout,
The Irish Ringfort, p. 17
[5] Sweetman,
D. (gen. ed.), Archaeological Inventory
of County Cork, Vol. IV – North Cork, Part 1 (Stationery Office, Dublin,
2000), no. 12794
[6] Stout,
The Irish Ringfort, p. 33
[7] Sweetman
(gen. ed.), Archaeological Inventory of
County Cork, Vol. IV – North Cork, Part 1, no. 12794
[8]
Observed by the author on 15th November 2014
[9] Stout,
The Irish Ringfort, pp. 20, 33
[10] Sweetman
(gen. ed.), Archaeological Inventory of
County Cork, Vol. IV – North Cork, Part 1, no. 14957
[11] Sweetman
(gen. ed.), Archaeological Inventory of
County Cork, Vol. IV – North Cork, Part 1, no. 13789
[13] Sweetman
(gen. ed.), Archaeological Inventory of
County Cork, Vol. IV – North Cork, Part 1, no. 13634
[14] Stout,
The Irish Ringfort, p.48
[15] Stout,
The Irish Ringfort, pp. 11, 17, 25,
26
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