Rath () is a hamlet in the south west area of

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The hamlet is located midway between the towns of Birr and

Kilcormac Kilcormac () is a small village in County Offaly, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the N52 road, N52 at its junction with the R437 road, R437 Regional road (Ireland), regional road, between the towns of Tullamore and Birr, County Offaly ...

on a northeast-southwest country road. It is located in the parish of Eglish and Drumcullen which is in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Diocese of Meath The Diocese of Meath () is an Irish diocese which took its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it still exists as a separate diocese, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other dioceses. Histor ...

. The hamlet has a number of local amenities for the local population including a church (dedicated to

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

), a national school, a local community centre and a local shop.

Drumcullen GAA Drumcullen GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the townland of Drumcullen, County Offaly, Ireland, to the south of Rath. The club is almost exclusively concerned with the game of hurling. Honours * Offaly Senior Hurling Champi ...

is the local GAA club and is located about half a kilometre to the south of the hamlet. As the place-name suggests, Rath takes its name from the Irish word 'An Ráth' which means

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

. Ringforts are circular fortified settlements with some dating as far back as the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

(800 BCE–400 CE). There is no evidence of a ringfort at the present day hamlet, however there are remains of one at nearby Mullinafawnia, a few kilometres south west of the hamlet. Nearby, about 300 metres from the hamlet, is a hill called Rathmount where the local rath may have been. In

Gaelic Ireland Gaelic Ireland () was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the late Prehistory of Ireland, prehistoric era until the 17th century. It comprised the whole island before Anglo-Norman invasi ...

, Rath was located in the territory of

Firceall Firceall () was an ancient Gaelic Irish territory which formed the most south - westerly part of the ancient Kingdom of Meath. O'Molloy was chieftain of the territory. Firceall itself comprised the ancient baronies of Ballycowan, Ballyboy and ...

, of the

Kingdom of Meath Meath ( ; ; ) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all of County Meath (which takes its name from the k ...

. The O'Molloy clan were chieftains of the territory and had a castle in nearby Eglish (the remains of which are still visible today). Following the plantations of Offaly in the 16th century, Firceall was broken up into the Baronies of

Ballycowan In Ireland Counties are divided into Civil Parishes and Parishes are further divided into townlands. The following is a list of townlands in County Antrim, Northern Ireland: __NOTOC__ A Acravally, Aganlane (also known as Parkmore), Aghaboy, ...

Ballyboy Ballyboy or Ballaboy () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is about two kilometres east of Kilcormac. The village is in a civil parish of the same name. Prior to the Plantations of Ireland, Ballyboy was ruled by O'Molloy in a territor ...

and

Eglish Eglish () is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about 6 km southwest of Dungannon, in the Mid Ulster District Council area. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 93. The village has grown in a dispersed form and ...

. The present day hamlet developed around the old Bennett Estate located in Thomastown, just south of the hamlet which gave regular local employment from the mid-1700s. The present day Catholic church in Rath was built by the family. The Bennett family is an unusual case in being a Catholic landlord family during the times of the

Protestant Ascendancy The Protestant Ascendancy (also known as the Ascendancy) was the sociopolitical and economical domination of Ireland between the 17th and early 20th centuries by a small Anglicanism, Anglican ruling class, whose members consisted of landowners, ...

of Ireland. Employment in the area is mainly agricultural however there are a number of industries also. Grennans is a family owned agri-trading business in the hamlet providing much employment. The business mainly deals with the manufacturing and distribution, of animal feeds, farm fertilisers and agricultural seeds and also sell agrochemicals, farm hardware and farm plastics.

Bord na Mona Cucerdea (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi''). The commune is located in the southwestern part of ...

also have a large briquette factory nearby in Derrinlough. Nearby villages include Fivealley about 3 km. to the north which is on the N52 motorway and Killyon about 3 km. to the south on R-440, both of which are located within the same parish. Eglish Castle and the Church of Saint James, Eglish, are located about 3 km. to the west. The site of the once celebrated monastery of Drumcullen is located southeast of the hamlet. The remains of the old church and

high cross A high cross or standing cross (, , ) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. Th ...

date back to the early Christian Ireland. Killyon was also the site of an ancient convent founded by Saint Liadhain. It is believed to be linked to the ancient monastery of Seir Kieran.

People

* William Bulfin, Derrinlough (author) * Eamon Bulfin, Derrinlough (Republican activist during 1916 Rising, raised the Irish Tricolour over the GPO and is buried in Eglish cemetery).

References

{{County Offaly Towns and villages in County Offaly