What is recorded here
Mortons has stood in Ardristan since the Iron Age, a broad earthen ring beside a quiet stream. People built it, lived there, and left it to memory. Fairy fort is the name tradition gave the same place, not a claim that fairies built it. The earth still holds the shape of human hands.
The following description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Carlow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1993). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.
Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007
Raised circular platform (diam. 20-25m; H 1.5-2m) enclosed by fosse, best preserved at E. Situated at base of gentle slope, close to stream. Fulacht fiadh (CW013-083----) between ringfort and stream.
A fairy fort, or earthen ringfort in Ardristan, is a circular earthwork enclosure typical of early-medieval Ireland, likely dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries AD. Local folklore associates such sites with the supernatural, often believed to be the dwellings of fairies or other otherworldly beings.
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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