Ballyvaghan Forts

On a level crest at the N end of a low rise, with meadowland falling gently away to S and more steeply to W, c. 60m E of the tidal inlet at Ballyvaghan. Hachured as a circular enclosure and named, along with a neighbouring cashel (CL002-050----) and enclosure (CL002-054----) as ‘Ballyvaghan Forts’ on the 1842 ed. of the 6-inch OS map and hachured as a subrectangular enclosure on the 1915 ed. Listed as ‘Enclosure’ in the SMR (1992) and the RMP (1996). A poorly preserved and overgrown rectangular cashel (35m NE–SW; 29m NW–SE, crest to crest) defined by a wide, denuded, flat-topped bank (Wth at base 3.9–5.4m; Wth on top 1–2m; H 0.3–1.1m) of mixed earth and stone with inner facing-stones visible along the NW side. The field surrounding this fort was the subject of a magnetic gradiometer survey in 2007 (Leigh 2007), however, it did not include this fort. Subsequent, archaeological testing within this field, a minimum of 40m distant from the monument, produced no related material (Hull 2008). The other two ‘Ballyvaghan forts’, the cashel (CL002-050----) and enclosure (CL002-054----), are located c. 70m SSW and c. 80m SE, respectively. Westropp (1901, 279–80) also included an exceptionally large cashel (CL002-053----) located c. 180m north in this group. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Ros Ó Maoldúin Date of upload: 9 December 2020

Ballyvaghan Forts are a pair of early-medieval ringforts located on a coastal crest near Ballyvaghan, likely dating to between the 6th and 10th centuries. Local tradition associates the site with fairy lore, as is common with such forts in Irish folklore, where they are often believed to be entrances to the Otherworld.