Sonnagh fort

Sonnagh fort
	Ráth an tSonnaigh
	Shown within Ireland
Location	Sonnagh, Aughnacliffe, ; County Longford, Ireland
Coordinates	53.830744°N 7.600570°W
Type	ringfort
Area	0.39 ha (0.96 acres)
History
Material	earth
Periods	Bronze or Iron Age (c. 2400 BC – AD 400)
Site notes
Ownership	private
Designation	National Monument

Sonnagh fort is a ringfort (rath) and National Monument located in County Longford, Ireland.[1][2]

Location

Sonnagh fort is located about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) west of Lough Gowna and 7.2 km (4.5 mi) north-northeast of Ballinalee. It stands in a commanding place overlooking the eastern plains extending to County Westmeath.

Description

The ringfort is a large bivallate enclosure with double bank and ditch. A spring lies immediately to the east.

History

There are seven ringforts surrounding Aughnacliffe, of which Sonnagh is the best preserved. These forts are better thought of as protected homesteads rather than military structures.[3] While house type varied, most were made of wood and were usually of post and wattle construction. The walls of the houses consisted of a double row of wattle spaced about 20cm apart with a cavity filled with straw and bracken for insulation. The roof was thatched with straw and held up with wooden posts.[4] The fort's walls gives their name to the townland: sonnach is Irish for "palisade."[5]

References

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

[1] ttp://www.longfordlibrary.ie/uploadedFiles/longfordlibrary/Heritage/Projects/Longford%20RMP%20Accessibility%20Audit%202009-2010.pdf%5B%5D

[2] "Wish I Was In Ireland".

[3] "Longford, Co Longford". 3 September 2008.

[4] "archive-ie.com: longfordtourism.ie - Ardagh - County Longford Tourism Website".

[5] "Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): sonnach".