longstone rath

A hauntingly esoteric site on a wooded hill in Furness estate, 3 miles east-north-east of Naas and 1 mile south-east of Johnstown. Though usually described as a rath, this is more properly interpreted as a ritual enclosure in the henge tradition. It consists of a circular earthwork nearly 200 feet in diameter, on top of and inside which are a number of mature hawthorn and ash trees. The bank, up to 9 feet high and cut by gaps on the east and west, is encircled by a fosse dug to a depth of 5 feet. The floor of the enclosure rises gradually towards the centre, at which point it is some 3 feet higher than the periphery. Excavations carried out in 1912 revealed that a fierce fire had burned over a large area of the interior, and this had subsequently been covered with a mound of earth and boulders. Precisely at the centre of the ring and rising to the impressive height of 17.5 feet, is a shapely four-sided granite pillarstone, socketed in a rock-cut pit and secured with packing stones.

Its overall length is 21 feet, not far short of the similar monster at Punchestown a few miles away.