Ranaghan

Ranaghan
Ranaghan
Town
Ranaghan

Location in Ireland

Coordinates: 53°38′50″N 7°13′48″W / 53.64722°N 7.2301°W / 53.64722; -7.2301Coordinates: 53°38′50″N 7°13′48″W / 53.64722°N 7.2301°W / 53.64722; -7.2301
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
County County Westmeath
Elevation 128 m (420 ft)
  merged with Castlepollard
Time zone WET (UTC+0)
 • Summer (DST) IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference N463640
Gillardstown view to-Ranagahan Hills
Overgrown Ring-Forts, Ranaghan hills
Gillardstown-&-Ranagahan Hills
Hills of Ranaghan

Ranaghan is a townland and archaeological site in County Westmeath, Ireland.

Introduction

It is situated south-west of Lough Lene positioned on high ground where there are a multitude of ringforts. Randoon possibly the most famous fort of the area, is situated between Castlepollard and Collinstown. Turgesius the Viking is believed to have governed and sejourned in this area.

Origins

Ringforts are fortified settlements that are generally agreed to be from the Early Medieval Period in Northern Europe, especially Ireland. They are also known as ráth, (as in Ranaghan) caiseal, cathair and dún (as in Randoon) in the early Irish sources. A ráth (anglicised rath), was made of earth, caiseal (northwestern Ireland, anglicised cashel) and cathair (southwestern Ireland) were built of stone. A dun is a more prestigious site, the seat of some kind of local chieften or ruler, the term is applied to promontory forts as well.

Locations

No historical or archaeological maps, surveys, nor records of the Early Medieval Period in Ireland approach the dates of the Irish ringforts. Area surrounding Lough Lene (meaning fertile soil) of Collinstown, Glenidan, Comerstown, Ranaghan, are areas dotted with a multitude of ring forts testifying to the land of fertile soil.

See also

Raftery, Barry, ‘Irish Hillforts’ in Charles Thomas (ed.), The Iron Age in the Irish Sea Province (London, 1972).

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.