Garranes: an early medieval royal site in south-west Ireland

In 1938, the large triple-banked early medieval ringfort of Lisnacaragh at Garranes was excavated by Professor Brendan O’Riordain of University College Cork. He uncovered debris from fine metalworking and imported pottery on a scale that has yet to be repeated at any ringfort excavated in Ireland. At the time, the excavator noted the similarities in the pottery to that at Tintagel, but thought that the material had come from no further than France. We now know that some of the pottery had its origins in Turkey and North Africa. Despite the fact that the ringfort was believed by some to have been the seat of a royal family, no buildings were found, and O’Riordain instead concluded that it