Boolattin - Ring Fort

Boolattin Ring Fort is just a short distance NE of the village of Kilrossanty right under the Comeragh mountains.

The remains of this early settlement site which is 35 metres in diameter, consists of an earth and stone bank ranging in width from 3.5 metres - 4.5 metres and measuring 1.4 metres in height. Its interior has an internal stone facing wall.

There are two entrances to the enclosure, one at the West which measures 3.8 meters and another on the SE which is about 2 meters wide. The latter is thought to be original.

These monuments, known as a Rath or Lios, are a feature of many farms throughout Waterford. They were thought to have been settlements, which date to the Early Medieval Period of around 500-1100AD. Most likely they would have been enclosed farmsteads which contained wooden housing and perhaps farm buildings which may have sheltered cattle in winter. Excavations of some sites have found houses to be of a modest size of just 5 metres in diameter. The Forts would have been made more defensive by the erection of a timber fencing on top of the bank with occasionally the entrance by a causeway.

Their occupants/owners were most likely a Lord or  a “Bo–Aire” ( prosperous farmer) and the forts may have served a number of families, similar to that of an enclosed community.

The Fort's internal stone wall

Directions: From the village of Lemybrien on the N25 take the road signposted for Kilrossanty. After about 2km you reach a T junction where there is a school on the corner. Turn left here and drive a short distance into Kilrossanty. The monument is easily accessible through a farmyard and track which leads from the centre of the village. Ask permission.

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