R, ruis, the dwarf elder in Ogham. The rochat, or ... - Rodney Mackay

digging up the latter. Ràth originally referred to the
enclosing earthen bank and lios to the open space between
this and the dwelling places within, but the word ràth is
now used to identify fortifications which are round, in
short, earthen-ring forts. It is generally held that these
embankments had no military significance although they
may have saved cattle from the wolves. It is possible, of
course, that wooden palisades might once have been erected
upon the "rath."
The ring-forts vary greatly in size, and their remains
range from 50 feet in diameter to about 400 feet. Examples
of large, multi-circled raths are uncommon but they do
exist and being sited on high land are referred to as hillforts.
Examination of artifacts associated with these ringed
structures shows that some are pre-Celtic dating back to
the Bronze Age. Some of the stone circles, formerly
regarded as ritual sites, have recently shown evidence of
past habitation, and it is now known that the uprights were
placed as a framework for building banks of rubble, sod and
earth. In some cases wooden posts had the function of
these upright stones and in these cases all that remains is
circular plug-holes to indicate this style of construction. It
is assumed some of ring-forts were defensive in intent, but
many have “one slight bank and a shallow fosse,” whose
security must have been theological rather than military in
intent.
See following.
RÀTH. Circle, the mariner dismembered by the mer-people
after a female of their kind lulled him to sleep with her
song; a not uncommon fate for interlopers on the great
western ocean.
RÀTHCROGAN, RATHCHROGAN. One of the largest raths of
ancient times was that held by Queen Mebd and her consort
Ailill, which was called Rath Cruachan or Rathcrogan. Its
outer circle encompassed numerous other fortresses, and
the place was still used in 645 A.D., when the Connaught