Laura Walsh, a native of Kilkenny, took up the position of field monument advisor with Kilkenny County Council a few months ago.
She is providing both assistance and advice to farmers on what to do, and what not to do with monuments on their farms throughout county Kilkenny.
The post is a partnership scheme with the Heritage Council and Kilkenny County Council and to date other the county councils of Clare, Sligo, Meath, Donegal, Louth, Fingal, and Wicklow have also filled similar positions.
Laura says that county Kilkenny contains a large number of quite interesting archaeological sites with around 2,000 monuments listed in Ireland’s Archaeological Survey.
These monuments are spread throughout every parish within the county, and practically everyone, particularly in the rural areas, is well aware of an old monument or a ring-fort in their locality.
It is hard to believe that there are about 500 ring-forts, or raths are they are more commonly known, spread throughout the county. They are quite easily recognised because they are oval in shape, surrounded by an earthen bank with a number of trees outlining the circle of the ring-fort.
These raths were used as residences in the past, and the majority date back to between 500 and 1,000 AD. They are also a source of local fokelore and tradition and it is very common for a townland to take its name from the local rath or ring-fort.
There are also over 300 different types of castle listed within the county of Kilkenny. These impressive buildings usually dominate the area where they are positioned, and were constructed during the centuries immediately following the construction of the ring-forts.
They are fortified residences, usually four or five stories high, and were built by the local large landowner. They were quite often partially or completely enclosed by a Bawn which was usually a fortified enclosing farmstead wall.
Laura Walsh, the County Kilkenny Field Monument Advisor can be contacted at 087 6608456.
