Longstone Rath

Longstone Rath (Irish: Ráth na Cloiche Fada) is a ringfort (rath) and National Monument located in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Longstone Rath
Ráth na Cloiche Fada
Longstone viewed in situ.
Shown within Ireland
LocationLongstone, Cullen, County Tipperary, Ireland
RegionMunster
Coordinates52.506051°N 8.297753°W / 52.506051; -8.297753
Area2,400 m2 (0.6 acre)
Diameter55 m (60 yd)
History
Materialearth, limestone
Founded1 AD
PeriodsIron Age
Site notes
Excavation dates1973–76
DesignationNational Monument

Location

Longstone Rath is located on a height overlooking the Barna–Emly road, 1.6 km (1 mile) west-southwest of Cullen.

History and archaeology

The longstone, a lump of limestone about 2.3 m (7′ 7″) in height, is located on a mound within a bivallate ringfort.[1] The site was excavated in 1973–76, where 4,000 potsherds, 6 complete vessels, over 400 flint scrapers, cremated bones and grooved ware pottery were found. The mound is thought to date from c. AD 1 (mid-Iron Age), with the rath being added about AD 600.[2][3][4] According to Prof. Peter Danaher, Carrowkeel-style bowls from the complex site at Longstone seem to indicate a transitory camp of passage-tomb folk, and the hilltop was also used by Beaker, Food Vessel and Urn peoples, indicating that the site was a "halting site" for many thousands of years before the longstone and rath were made.[5]

References
  1. MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS OF IRELAND.COM: Longstone
  2. "Longstone" on Megalithomania
  3. "Unpublished Excavations in the Republic of Ireland 1930-1997" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  5. Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume IV (1986), page 111.
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