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E-book Garranes : An Early Medieval Royal Site in South-West Ireland
The significance of Garranes lies partly in the date of Lisnacaheragh, believed to have been built in the fifth century AD. That is early in the history of the Irish ringfort, the origins of which remain unclear. The evidence of specialist craftworking in metal, glass and enamel from Lisnacaheragh testifies to the importance of the site. The discovery of imported pottery there sheds light on connections between Ireland and the late Roman world at a time when Christianity was also introduced to Ireland. These developments at Garranes coincided with the emergence of the ringfort as the major settlement form of the early medieval period.Though not directly comparable, Garranes brings that interesting alignment of archaeology, history and legend that is more often associated with Tara and other provincial royal sites in protohistoric Ireland. Over the past century this site has been regarded as a significant place in the political history of early medieval Munster, identified as the seat of an early tribal group known as the Uí Echach Muman. The latter are generally interpreted as a southern branch of the Eóganacht, a loose federation of dynastic groups who dominated political life in the Munster region from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. The Uí Echach are also recorded in medieval sources as the Eóganacht Raithleann/Raithlind, a name taken from Raithliu their royal seat and place of assembly. Lisnacaheragh ringfort at Garranes has been identified as Raithliu/Rath Raithleann based on its impressive size and defences, and the evidence of high status occupation found in excavation. This monograph presents the results of archaeological fieldwork conducted in 2011–18 in the Garranes landscape. That included a survey of the individual monuments and the use of geophysical methods to investigate sub-surface archaeology in the wider landscape. Five earthworks were also excavated, the results of which are presented along with specialist studies connected to those investigations.
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