The Tipperary Antiquarian

1840s Map of Rathurles Rath - The Fair of Munster (c) OSI Rathurles is a huge multi-vallette ring-fort near Nenagh in Co. Tipperary.   It is described in the Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary (Vol. 1 – North Tipperary) as a; Ringfort - “Situated in undulating pastureland. A roughly circular area (diam. 55m N-S) defined by an inner bank largely reduced to a scarp, a fosse (Wth 6m), a berm or walkway and an outer fosse (Wth 6.5m; D c. 2.5m). The central bank was probably backfilled into the central fosse to provide the walkway which has the stone foundations of a building at N. A fifteenth-century church (TN021-012002) occupies the interior of the ringfort. The outer bank is levelled in the NE quadrant.” Aerial Photo of Rathurles (c) OSI T here are 3 other features associated with it – Church - Situated in the interior of a ringfort (TN021-012001). A well-preserved fifteenth-century rectangular church (dims. 9.1m N-S; 17.4m E-W; wall T 0.85m) of roughly ...

An Buchaill Breige on Luddenmore hill in Co. Limerick An Fear Breaga or the "Lieing Man" seems to be a fairly common name applied to monuments particularly standing stones that look a bit like a person or "false man". There is an interesting bit of folklore relating to the name which attributes a different type of story to the name, this time from the Glen of Aherlow. "Fear Bréige - the old-time sun dial for the people who lived in the mid-valley (Glen of Aherlow). It stands out like a real Fear Bréige on the mountain sky line above Lough Muskery. When the sun is seen from the valley to be directly overhead it, it is 12 o clock noon. (Many a child weary from haymaking and longing for the dinner hour was told to look up and notice that the sun hadn't yet come overhead "fear bréige")." https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922274/4866364/5052610 So this appears to have been a natural "Fear Bréige" or some kind of marker that may...